Working Visa
by Student of Dreams
Summary: The MiB claim jurisdiction over S.H.I.E.L.D's Asgardian prisoner. With a sharp, black suit and a pair of dark shades, Loki may find his redemption by becoming one of the Men in Black.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** This is a fic I wrote for a prompt for LJ's NorseKink. It was originally intended as a oneshot, but because of reasons I decided to make it chaptered, so more will be coming even though I'm not sure when. This is pre-MiB3 because I havn't seen that yet.  
Enjoy

**Working Visa**

Fury did his best not to grind his teeth and spit on the black-clad man.

The operative, who refused to say anything about the organization he had come from, sat opposite him with the blankest expression on his face Fury had ever seen. He looked down at the little card he had been given, marked only by the embossed black letters 'MiB'. He didn't know what they stood for, damn it, and he wasn't just going to just bow down to some unnamed agency who through they could just come in and intimidate him.

... Even though the president had demanded it.

Damn it.

The agent seemed content to just sit with his arms crossed and stare Fury, authority just washing over him and attempting to drown anyone who got in his way.

"Fine," Fury snarled, "but I need to be present during the interview."

"No."

"..._Fine_."

* * *

Agent Jay unbuttoned his suit jacket as he sat opposite the blonde man of muscle. He'd read the file on Thor, and he wasn't intimidated. So this guy was practically a god, big deal. He'd been called a god in bed enough times that it had to count for something. Jay also knew he could probably beat the guy in a game a wits, because his estimated IQ was not at all impressive. Although it was possible that it was inaccurate; Asgardians were on record very smart and had a fairly thorough educational program.

Maybe he should be tested.

"Please state your full name for the record."

"I am Thor, son of Odin."

"Planet of origin?" Jay continued, filling in the answer.

"Asgard, of the Second Realm."

"Uh-huh. Approximate age in relation to the Gregorian Solar calendar in relation to the closest year and month," he looked up, "That's just your normal seven days in a week kinda deal." Jay waited for the response, watching Thor try to do the math in his head for several long minutes until he took pity on the big guy. "You know what, man, we can just leave that section blank and come back to it."

A large smile spread across Thor's face, "I would be most grateful."

"Don't even mention it." Yeah, he was definitely going be tested, "Is this your first visit to Earth?"

* * *

Kay moved around the glass prison. The figure within hadn't turned to look at the door, and didn't acknowledge the agent movements. It was slightly unusual, but Kay has seen far worse in for more unsettling situations. It was an inevitable hazard of the job, he supposed.

"Mr Odinson," Kay started, walking up the final flight of stairs until he was on the final landing and moving himself into the piercing green gaze. "My name is Agent Kay, I represent an organization called the Men in Black; we monitor alien activity on earth. On behalf of MiB I apologize that S.H.I.E.L.D was able to get jurisdiction over you and your brother before we were able to make contact. The MiB have been aware of your people as an inter-realm race for decades and I'm sure we could have handled your care far more efficiently than these military buffoons."

No response from Loki. Kay kept himself even.

"You have not only violated six interstellar laws, but also eighteen sub-categorical laws specific to Earth. Additionally, you are in direct violation of a full paragraph of the Asgard-Midgard treaty, an act that not only declares war on earth and her people but is also punishable by various tortures and then inevitable death."

Loki blinked slowly before answering, cold and detached. "Are you here to implement these punishments?"

"No, son," the address provoked the first real reaction from Loki, and Kay filed it away for later use, "I'm here to offer you salvation."

* * *

"Have you ever had sexual relations with an... 'an Earth native biological organism'?" Jay made a mental note to have a serious talk with whoever wrote this damn questionnaire. He glanced at the door, knowing the S.H.I.E.L.D leader was just beyond and hoped that Kay had managed to get to the cells without being noticed.

"You are referring to Jane?"

"If you have ever had sex with Jane, then yeah, I'm talking about her."

Thor shifted slightly, "Jane and I have not yet consummated our relationship," he ran a hand through his blonde hair and leant back slightly. "However, she has... serviced me sexually."

"Really? Good for you, man." He looked back down at the paper. "So; is there any chance you, or any other parties involved in the sexual encounter, were impregnated?"

* * *

"Decades ago, Earth was declared an apolitical zone for aliens without a planet. I'd say you fit that description, Mr. Odinson," he pretended to glance at the information package, "or is it Laufeyson? Our records aren't too clear on that. Either way, we'd like to offer you a job. You have an impressive set of skills, which we would like to utilize."

Loki sneered, "You wish to use my magic as a weapon. A mortal such as yourself cannot hold such power over me."

Kay tried to not roll his eyes at the pomposity. "Mr. Laufeyson, you should be aware that last night the MiB called a meeting with Odin Allfather regarding jurisdictional issues which have risen since your imprisonment. We managed to place our organization in charge of your punishment with a few provisos. We have managed to take any kind of fatal punishment off the table."

There were a few moments where Loki waited for the other shoe, and Kay let it hover over the god's head for a moment before bringing it down.

"This," he pulled a silver device from his pocket, "is a Neuralyzer. It isolates and measures electronic impulses in your brain relating to the maintenance and recall of memory. It has various settings relating to hours, days, years. If you refuse to co-operate with us, we have been given permission from your father to allow us to use this little device on you. By his specifications we can erase eight-hundred and ninety six years of your memory."

Intensely green eyes widened, something foreign shining behind them.

"Everything you've known, everything you _are_... will be erased."

It was a threat. Blackmail, even, but Kay knew the benefit that Loki would bring to the organization; not because of his magic or power, but because of his ability to sway and manipulate. MiB was always looking for quick tongues to convince the government to let them continue under the radar, to slip out of treaty agreements or other not-so-diplomatic situations. Someone with Loki's talent for talking would be invaluable.

They could erase the god's memories. They _would_ if they felt it necessary, Kay was sure of that, just as sure as he was that he could not be the one to do it. He'd done a lot of regrettable things during in the name of the Men in Black, but he couldn't re-write someone's entire life against their will.

Loki was staring at him with an inscrutable expression. It was a long and horrible moment where several things spread across the dark-haired man's face, things Kay couldn't read but recognized deep in his soul. He didn't want to examine it too closely.

"Okay," came the soft response.

* * *

Jay grinned at Fury as he exited the small interview room. The man had an aura of anger, which Jay thought was amusing given the man's name, and he was having fun playing with the S.H.I.E.L.D man.

"All done," Jay shot him his most dazzling smile, the one he usually saved for women with great legs. "We're considering it a working visa, of sorts. We'll send his passport to you guys when it's sorted so you can look it over. Probably scan it for imaginary tracking devices and whatnot. We'll also be supplying him some pamphlets about the substances and technology he can and cannot bring in or out of the solar-system."

They started walking down the corridor, and they could hear Thor move from the room behind him and head in a different direction. Jay followed Fury through the halls, granting him the illusion of power even through Jay had memorized the layout prior to the assignment.

"So what _exactly_ did the two of you talk about?"

Jay shrugged. "Standard questionnaire." He shook the binder slightly, "We can send you a copy if you like."

"Do that."

* * *

Kay watched Fury exit the building with Jay. According to their surveillance he had been standing by the car the entire time. He'd doctored all the cameras in the building, something which he suspected would remain unknown for at least four days since Stark was in charge of most of the systems.

Jay gave a condescending handshake to the eye-patched man before heading to the car. Kay pushed himself off the side and opened the driver's side door, settling himself behind the wheel.

"Hey," Jay set himself down beside him, "are we _sure_ Thor is, you know, normal for an Asgardian?"

Knowing exactly what he was not saying, Kay shrugged, "He was raised as a warrior, and he's a prince; he had a specialty area of education and no need for the basics."

"So he's not... special?"

Kay gave him a blank look, watching Jay until the younger man shrugged and broke eye-contact.

"I'm just checkin', man."

Kay nodded and started the car, pulling into the street and manoeuvring through the New York traffic with practiced ease. They drove in silence, something which Jay found odd as the other usually played music in order to avoid conversation. It wasn't until they'd been driving for a good ten or fifteen minutes that Jay noticed a figure in the back seat, sleeping under a green cloak and with a spare MiB jacket thrown over him like a blanket.

"Kay, did you steal Loki?"

"Maybe. But I set up a hologram so it should take a few days before they notice he's not in his cell."

"You mind telling me why he's unconscious?"

Kay glanced at Jay, wondering just how much the newer Agent knew about their most recent assignment. Even though he had operated at MiB for five years while Kay had been a neutral, Jay had always been more of a warrior, an organizer and an undercover agent. Chances were he didn't know about the darker, more underhanded levels of MiB

Looking over, and letting a rare softness take over his gaze, Kay answered honestly. "He's an Omega Neutral, kid."

"What?" Jay looked over, eyes wide, "I thought they were just a scare tactic?"

"Most of the time, they are."

"So you erased his mind _completely_? No remembering his parents or favourite pizza toppings or his _own name_ or... anything?"

Taking a deep breath, Kay looked back out at the road. He could understand the disbelief in his partner's voice. "That's about the long and short of it. His procedural memory should be intact though, so that's something."

"So he'll remember how to tie his shoes, but not how it felt to be hugged by his own mother. That's just great. Real considerate, Kay."

"He wanted it." Kay stated clearly.

A deathly silence fell over the car at the three words, broken occasionally by the shuffling of Loki as he turned over or mumbled something in an ancient, unknown language. There was an air of horror that filled the space, and Kay didn't want to look over and see the look he knew was in Jay's eyes. There was no way that the younger man could understand, and Kay didn't really feel like explaining.

"So," Jay finally said, tired of the silence and showing his diplomacy by avoiding the topic "What are we going to reprogram him with?"

"We're not."

Kay knew that this decision was going to get him in a lot of trouble. It would take a lot of convincing to get the higher-ups to go along, but he would stick with it to the end. He was right, he knew he was, and he would fight it to the death. It was the least he could do for the figure in the back-seat, who had offered himself up to the agency so completely, who had trusted Kay to look after him as a blank, clean, and completely vulnerable slate.

"I let Loki record a message before he was neutralized," Kay elaborated softly, "he explained, to himself, why this was best. Why a new life with new memories would be better than the ones he had before. We're not going to reprogram him; we're going to tell him the truth. We're going to tell him we removed his memories, that this is a chance for redemption. The message he left will tell him he doesn't want to know what his past life was like, but if he asks we will tell him. No new identity, no false memories, and, most importantly," he looked over at Jay, "_no lies_."

Jay looked away from his partner and turned the concept over in his head. He had read Loki's file, of course, and known that the man spread across the seats behind him had been raised in lies and lived in pain. The top MiB psychologists had suspected that this was what had caused Loki to feel isolated and had driven him to madness and a disconnection to his own identity.

However, telling him that everything he was had been erased could do exactly the same to the fragile being.

"We'll take care of him," Kay comforted, "so don't worry about that. He needs a purpose, a family, and we're going to give that to him."

Looking over at Kay, Jay noticed the tense worry lines around his face, the concern that ran deeper than just this assignment. There was an identification that Kay had with the sleeping god in the back that shone through dark, intense eyes. Jay still thought it could be disastrous, but in light of Kay's determination he would put his faith in his mentor's heart and, consequentially, in Loki.

"By 'we', you don't just mean the Men in Black, do you?"

A rare smile graced the older agent's face. "No, Slick, I don't."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Since this story was originally meant as a oneshot, this is more of a transitional chapter than anything .Also, it's hard to keep Loki IC when he doesn't have memories, but I hope it's still okay :)

**Working Visa**

They had put Loki in a white padded room, much to Kay's disapproval. He and Zed watched the fallen god pace, not so much like a caged animal as a god surveying his empty and off-white kingdom. They'd dressed him in black sweatpants and white t-shirt while he was unconscious. Jay had commented that if he woke up in a strange place, with no memory and dressed in mass amounts of leather and metal, it'd look fairly kinky.

Kay supposed that finding out that you'd been stripped while unconscious wouldn't be too comforting either, but he wouldn't tell if he wasn't asked... It was a good start to his 'no lies' relationship with Loki.

The current head of the Men in Black, Zed, had stressed the extent to which he did not support Kay's decision. While the MiB had obtained parental and presidential permission to perform a full memory wipe, they have never had an Omega Neutral who was _aware_ of what the MiB had done to him. No one was really sure how to proceed, which was why they'd been keeping him in one of their interrogation cells for the past seven hours.

Even though Kay was the one who had studied Loki's file the most intensely, agent Jay had insisted that he would be a much less intimidating person to explain the situation to Loki. Kay had pretended he didn't know what the younger agent had meant, but was secretly glad that his protégé was showing concern for their newest recruit.

"You better hope this goes well." Zed growled, as the two of them watched the interrogation door open.

Jay walked into the small room, and Loki spun on his heal, eyes wide to look at the intruder.

"Hey, I know you're probably sick of being questioned, but I'm going to finally fill you in on what's going on." He gestured to the small table and chairs in the centre of the room, "you might wanna sit down."

Loki watched Jay sit, distrust in his eyes. There was a lot of hesitation in his movements as he walked to the table and sat opposite Jay, who was smiling despite the fear that bled from Loki. It made worry grip Kay, as he tried to hope for the best.

"So I suppose the easiest way for this to go down is for you to start by telling me what you've been told so far."

"Not much," Loki said, voice cold and detached, "They tell me my name is El, and that I... _asked_ to have my memory erased, as if such a thing is feasible. Apart from that they've just been asking a lot of stupid questions to make sure my memories are completely gone."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"You should be sorry about keeping me locked up in this place and _erasing my memory_," Loki hissed. His muscles were tensed and he looked ready to strike.

Kay's eyes flicked to a small, unassuming button on the consol of the observation room. If pressed, it would fill the room with a gas that was targeted at Jotunn neurochemistry and would put Loki to sleep. He really didn't want to use it, but with his memory gone it was assumed that Loki did't know how to control his magic, or even if he possessed it. Although the seasoned agent wanted to help the adopted Asgardian, he wouldn't risk Jay life.

"I know it sounds crazy, and it is a little bit, but you really did ask for your memories to be wiped." Jay dug into his coat pocket and pulled out a small remote. "Look, I was going to try and ease you into this, but maybe it'll be better if you just see this straight away."

* * *

El had only seen himself briefly in the mirror when they'd let him use the bathroom. He knew his hair was long and black, that he was pale and thin. He could recognize the features were his even if he couldn't quite remember them.

However, the version of himself that looked back from the tiny 3Dfigure on the table did look different. He was dressed in an elaborate outfit of green cloth, leather and metal, and far more fashionable than what these people had dressed him in. There were also cuts and bruises all over the other him's face, and his hair was slicked back. He looked calm and collected even though he had clearly gone through a rough scrape.

El knew that, in real life, he currently was a mess. His hair was a tangle of curls, from having been briefly washed in a sink, and his hands hadn't stopped trembling since he had woken.

The tiny holographic him stared straight forward, which gave the illusion of looking straight at to other's chest, but El looked down on him intently, waiting for some kind of explanation for what the hell was going on.

"I have been told," the little figure started, his voice as loud and as richly deep as his own, "that you will be assigned a new name, so I cannot address you as who I know you to be. A man named 'Kay' had presented a rare opportunity. An opportunity to..." The figure trailed off, not searching for the words but more struggling to say them,

"...An opportunity to _heal_ in a way which I... I thought I never deserved. This is a chance for a life, free of pain that has been endured since birth... I'm not entirely sure of whom these people are, but anything they offer you will be better than any available alternative. I choose this second chance willingly, and if there is any hope for you, you will respect this decision and trust my judgement by trying to redeem yourself, and _not_ your memories."

There was a small moment, when something flickered over the hologram's face as if he wanted to say more, but instead looked to the right slightly, nodding to an invisible past presence before the recording device off, leaving the table empty once again.

Looking at the smooth surface of the table, El nervously ran a hand through the mess of black curls as he thought, trying to smooth them down like his past self had worn them. It didn't work.

He would have liked to have been able to be confident in himself as the hologram had, if only for appearances sake, but it seemed impossible. Everything down to his hair and his hands were responding to the situation with chaos and uncertainty.

"How do I know that truly was me, and not a simple illusion?"

The man with dark skin, Jay, apparently, smiled at him with a warm charisma that balanced out the sharp awareness in his eyes. "You know in your gut it's the truth, even if you don't want to."

And he was right.

El nodded slowly, looking back down at the table. He felt sick knowing that the emptiness he felt was his own doing, and wondered how hopeless his situation had been for him to choose something so terrifying and dangerous. There had been pain, and he'd done something bad because of it; that was what he took from his past self's message but he couldn't imagine pain so strong that easing his entire life was worth it to remove the agony.

"Do you know what my life was like before?"

Jay leant back in his chair, deflating slightly as he braced himself, "Yeah, I do."

"A-And do you think I can do this? Redeem myself for... whatever my mistakes were."

The agent shrugged, smiling again, "I've seen a lot on unbelievable stuff in this job, man. You aren't even in the top five, so I _definitely_ think it's possible. Until then, we've got some work to do. First; hair gel. Then we're going to go and put on the last suit you'll ever wear," Jay hesitated, eyes flicking to a mirrored section of the wall as he lost confident in what was obviously a practiced statement, "well, I mean, in theory it's the last... you know what, let's just get you outta here."

* * *

Kay waited at the diner, per Jay's instructions. He didn't really like taking orders from the younger man but he had actually been in the same room with Loki and Kay hadn't, so his read on the god was probably better. He would have to have words with the younger agent later about respecting his elders. Although, not quite using that phrase because he didn't want to put any more ammunition in that particular gun.

Most of the people in the diner were agents in their down-time or aliens. It was a favourite MiB spot, even if no one really acknowledged what it was. It was a comforting atmosphere, as even though people talked slightly hushed there was not much risk of others overhearing things they didn't already know.

The small bell over the door alerted Kay to the arrival of his partner and their new trainee.

Jay led, turning to hold the door open for Loki who was starting to look like his normal self with his hair brushed back. He still looked very tired and glanced around nervously at the patrons, but the Men in Black suit, Kay was pleased to see, fit Loki like a second skin. He moved comfortably in the outfit; pushing the bottom of his jacket aside to put his hands in his pockets.

"Jay! El!" Kay called, waving them over.

Agent Jay glanced around at the others in the diner, checking to see if anyone's attention was drawn to them and the older agent by the call. He didn't understand the clientele the small diner attracted, and Kay was glad to see that there were still some tricks he could teach the younger man.

Jay slid into the booth and patted the seat next to him, which Loki accepted.

It was a good move to take the window seat, Kay decided, so that Loki wouldn't feel trapped and boxed in after so many hours in interrogations. He wondered if it had been a deliberate tactic on Jay's part, or just instinct.

"So, how're you holding up, skip?"

"S'pose I can't complain, but you've given me a shit-load of paper work on this, Kay. I got-"

"I wasn't talking to you, slick," Kay cut Jay off.

Loki's head snapped up and his posture straightened as he realized he was being addressed. He folded his hands on the table. "I'm holding up as well as can be expected. I suppose you have more precedents for this kind of thing than I."

"Not as much as you'd think. Normally we'd set you up with a new life and memories, but we're going into new territory by even telling you that you've been memory wiped. For now," Kay looked over to the waitress who had come over to their table with three plates, "we have pie. Except you," he told Loki, "you have mac and cheese with grilled vegetables. You haven't eaten in days, so I'm not going to let you eat dessert first."

Blinking, Loki looked stunned for a moment while Kay held his gaze steady and kept his face blank. Part of him expected the confident intensity that Loki exuded before the memory wipe, but instead got a confused yet genuine smile that brought some colour to the god's pale skin.

"Thank you," he broke their gaze to take a forkful of food. "I assume," he continued after swallowing, "that you are the 'Kay' mentioned in the... _my_ recording?"

"That would be me. I was the one who pulled the trigger, so to speak." He took a mouthful of his blueberry pie. It had a non-earth sugar in it that made it just perfect, but he couldn't keep the flavourful chunk in his mouth for long, as he had to swallow to talk. "I'm also the one who's going to help train you. So is agent Jay."

Jay looked up from his coconut cream pie, which Kay had ordered because he knew it was secretly his partner's favourite, and gave a quick thumbs up because his mouth was full of food.

"There is something we should probably mention before you start MiB basic training." Kay continued

Loki nodded, managing to pay rapt attention while finishing off his meal. It was clear the poor man had been starved, and while Kay knew that he hadn't been fed during his time in S.H.I.E.L.D custody, the agent suspected that Loki may have been starving himself for some time before that too.

"What is it?"

"You're an alien, son."

* * *

El handled the gun awkwardly; Jay had to correct his stance and grip more than once. In his hands the gun felt like a poorly designed weapon, very inefficient and unpredictable. Since it was an Earth-made device it made El wonder what kind of weapons he was used to holding to make such a simple and effective gun seem so unfamiliar.

He readjusted the weapon, one hand holding the gun and resting it in the palm of the other, but hesitated in raising it. There were several wooden cut-outs of aliens in front of him, and his task was to hit each in the most fatal spot for their species. He wondered where his was, and if any of the aliens he was learning to kill were allies of his people. There were so many questions that wanted to spill off his tongue, but wasn't sure if he should ask. El wanted to respect his past self's choice to be mind wiped, but didn't know how much he could find out about himself before he crossed that line.

For now, El just planned to do the best he possibly could. Jay and Kay seemed to have such faith in him and offered not only guidance but also their friendship.

Part of him, a damaged and incomplete corner of his soul, recognized how important that was, even if he wasn't sure why.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Plot. Yay. I have a rough sketch of the story now but there are still a few holes about how I'm supposed to get there. So, any requests or... anything really, would help in the way of inspiration :)

The Avengers will be in the next chap, so stay tuned

**Working Visa**

"Hey, Ik" Jay greeted a small man with dreadlocked hair. The man's face gave him a black look, but the dreads rose. Some revealed eyes at their ends, while some broke into mouths, which responded in a friendly greeting in a language that Jay hadn't really gotten the hang of yet. Luckily, Ik knew that and so didn't expect a lengthy conversation.

The apartment building was mostly inhabited by aliens, and the humans were either stoners or shut-ins who wouldn't notice their neighbours' eccentricities. It was used for the aliens that were staying too long for a hotel, but not long enough for permanent residency. Loki was considered one of those people until he had officially completed his training. Jay could remember staying a week in a similar place. It hadn't been too bad.

He knocked on Loki's door, but didn't wait for a response before pushing it open. "Hello," he called out, but not crossing the threshold without permission.

The room was filled with bags and boxes that MiB had supplied, some were unpacked with canned foods lined up on the kitchen bench, and clothes folded carefully in piles on the couch. Most of the belongings, none personal and all MiB commissioned, had already been boxed and ready to move into a more permanent home.

The man in question called out from through a doorway, "You can come in, Jay."

Loki appeared from what was assumed to be a bedroom. He wore a black polo-shirt, but underneath it his skin was an ice blue with carvings spread across his arms and face. His eyes, however, were bright red.

Jay had seen sketches of Jotunn's before, and one dead body that had turned up just outside Reykjavik, but never actually seen one live. He took note of the more comfortable way Loki stood, and the odd feeling of cold in the air which was by far the least oddest thing about the other man standing in front of him. But he smiled, despite the feeling of ice running down his spine, because in the grand scheme of things Jotunns were not all that spectacular.

"You've got a better handle on things then?"

"Yes," Loki stepped further into the room, "I suppose I've learnt all these magics before, which I imagine would make it easier a second time around." His skin bled into flesh colour, "but the more I allow myself into my true form, the harder it is to sustain the human visage."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it. You did before, after all."

"True." Loki moved around, moving towards his black suit which was hanging up on the curtain rail while the closets were being cleared out. He had added a green scarf to the regular suit, much to Zed's chagrin, claiming that because of his Jotunn physiology Earth far was too cold for him to tolerate. Jay suspected it was just because there was no colour in the uniform but didn't say anything because, as far as he was concerned, Loki could have some special privileges.

Jay held up a folder, "I've got your first solo assignment."

* * *

El held himself high and proud. The small aircraft landed soundlessly on the building roof, the top few floors having been evacuated by the MiB to give the visitors their privacy. They were here to negotiate, and the MiB had entrusted El to get the best possible deal, although he hadn't been given many guidelines about what the best outcome would be, or what he should avoid.

The Rutelalian race did not look that much different from his natural form, El thought. Their skin was more silver than blue, and was covered in scales rather than runes, but the only main difference was the colourful fins that flowed down from their elbows and hips, like feathery vines.

"On behalf of the planet Sol-3-Earth-IunctusTerrae, the Men in Black welcome you. I am Agent El, I'll be Earth's representative for these negotiations." He smiled to try and take the edge off the formal introduction he'd memorized.

"I am Deodora," The leading woman said, her speech flat and not quite matching her lips as the translator provided her voice. She stood with the elegance that El's past-self had, and it made the new agent feel incompetent. She had extra fins that wrapped around her body, the only one of their party hiding her scaled form, which El assumed was a display of hierarchy.

"We shall begin the negotiations inside."

* * *

"So what've you got?" Jay demanded stalking up the middle of the lines of agents, "Satellite image, listening bugs? What?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Seriously?"

"Nothing, ei mitään, goratenzi, rien, nada. There is no way for us to know what is going on in that room, Slick, I'm sorry to tell you."

Kay sat passively behind his desk, not even looking up at the man who had intruded on his workspace. He was typing steadily, and Jay collapsed into the chair opposite Kay, watching him worriedly. "You trust him to pull this off then?"

"He's got instinct and the level head of a leader, and an uncanny knack to twist things around in his favour. He should have no problem."

"Yeah, but the Rutelalians are hard to defrost." Jay reached for a little bauble on Kay's desk and fiddled with it with worry, "Wouldn't it be easier to start him off with the Torgans? They're pushovers."

"No can do," Making a few final clicks, Kay looked up at his partner. "The Torgans have had dealings with Alfheim and Riszet, who are allies of Asgard. We can't risk them recognizing Loki through intergalactic scuttlebutt."

Jay nodded, "So we play 'seven degrees of Loki' with every assignment we get." He tried to keep the question out of his voice, even though he hoped that at some point in the future they might not have to. He threw the glass trinket from one hand to the other for a moment before replacing it back on the desk.

"Are we sure this is even a good idea?" the younger agent asked. A slight jolt of panic ran through him when Kay gave him a sharp look. "Not the making Loki one of us," he rushed to clarify, "I_ mean_ putting him in a diplomatic position. He'd be great as one of the ground men; he's determined and he's getting a tighter grip on his magic now, and it'd give the same purpose."

"Loki wasn't made to grunt work, kid. He was born to lead." He kept his look fixed on Jay, who shifted slightly and tried to resist the urge to shift in the seat. Kay didn't seem to notice as he continued, his voice losing some of its edge, "We knew the challenges when we took him in."

"You mean when _you_ took him in."

Kay straightened, and Jay clamped his mouth shut. Regret washed over him because, yeah, it had been Kay who had made the decision but Jay couldn't have imagined doing any different. Except maybe offering Loki some industrial-strength therapy. However, Jay was starting to feel like there was a shift in power, that after Jay had been the one to train and put the energy into welcoming Loki, the ex-villain was stepping up into a position above Jay with more trust than they had shown the ex-cop.

"Are you all right, Slick?"

"I'm fine," Jay covered with a shrug, "I'm just thinking about Loki. He's still not all that confident in himself and it might be too much for him."

Something which was probably the closest Kay could come to a smile tugged at his face. It was very confusing.

"Look, just because we're giving Loki special privileges, doesn't mean we care about him more than you. I have room in my heart for two partners."

Jay's brain stalled a little. "That's not... The hell, man?"

* * *

El fidgeted. He found he couldn't really help it, and he held his hands under the table, one hand massaging the palm of the other just for something to do. The aliens across from him were discussing things lowly. They had been in negotiations for hours, and so far they'd swapped a food preservative for an alien variation of a coca bean.

They were dancing around a key issue; the usage of the earth's core heat to power their planetary defences.

So far they'd denied that it would be used for offensive weaponry, which El doubted, and refused to part any knowledge about how they could or would harness the power. As far as the MiB knew, it could involve cracking Earth in half and pouring the liquid fire into a giant battery.

Even though the MiB hadn't given him any indication about what he should and shouldn't be bargaining for, he was fairly certain that a deal allowing the legal destruction of earth would be frowned upon. It was probably the opposite of what they were hoping for.

He closed the ledger, "I'm afraid that there is nothing the MiB can do for you, Lady Deodora." He leant back, and ran a hand through his hair. "We just can't allow any access to Earth's core without more information regarding how and why. I'm sorry."

Deodora's eyes narrowed.

"We understand," El continued, "that your people need a new power source as soon as possible. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but you are the ones in need wouldn't it be in your best interest to be a bit more co-operative."

The few other Rutelalians in the room, whom El assumed were bodyguards, seemed to stiffen. Loki tried to pretend he had a lifetime of confidence-building memories behind him, rather than just the six months he had, and held his position, not glancing at the bodyguards or appearing concerned that he might be punished for his insolence. It seemed to be a programmed reaction to assume he would be punished for speaking out of turn, even though he knew it was unlikely on such a diplomatic mission.

El was prevented from looking into it too deeply, as Deodora shifted suddenly. She placed her hands on her stomach and the extra folds around her body shifted and unwound themselves from her form.

The fins seemed to belong to a second form, a tiny being not quite as humanoid as the grown Rutelalians but obviously still of the same race. El found himself smiling inexplicably, instantly draw towards the tiny babe that Deodora was cradled in both hands as she tried to settle down. She uttered some words that the translator couldn't make sense of, which El assumed must have been baby-talk.

"Is there anything wrong?" He asked, concerned about the baby's distress.

She fixed his with a protective look, as if she was trying to read why a MiB diplomat would be concerned with such a matter. "He is ill and has woke because of it." She cooed softly before continuing, "Our offspring require specific conditions to heal, and I cannot provide them here."

"Poor thing." El hesitated, unable to resist a chance to hold the precious resource. "May I?" he asked, raising his hands from the table, palms up.

Deodora frowned concernedly, confusion flicking in her eyes for a moment before she slowly passed the baby over the conference table, the infant's fins wrapping around itself like a makeshift blanket.

Even if he'd had all his memories, El was sure it would still be the most adorable little thing he had ever seen. He couldn't help the smile the spread across his face, focused entirely on the small being in his arms and not noticing the moisture that threatened his vision. "Hello, little one." He held the child close to his body instinctively, finding himself worried about the baby's health.

El looked up at the Lady Deodora, who was watching his concern with an approving expression.

"Not seriously ill I hope."

She shook her head, hesitating in the alien gesture. "No, he may recover on his own, although it shall be a slowed process." she frowned, "The energy we require from Earth is to restore and defend our nursery moon. Our offspring heal there," her eyes drifted down to her child in El's arms. "It was recently attacked. We cannot afford to have it happen again."

Nodding, El looked back down at the squirming child. He handed the babe back to his mother, choking on the sudden feeling of loss that occurred when the baby's weight lifted from his arms.

"In the very least," El managed, trying to recover breath that seemed to be robbed from him, "you must sign a contract insuring the safety and security of Earth before we allow you the use of our core. That's the minimum I can allow."

* * *

The Earth-Rutelalian contract was signed in blood, as was their cultural tradition. Dame Deodora sat in her study, her son secured once again against her body. The Man in Black had earned her trust; the display of care he had shown with her son had explained to her that he was more than any other MiB diplomat that she had dealt with.

She could not imagine how he could have made such insistent enemies.

But, for the protection of her queen and the children who will provide the future of her race, she would contact the barbarians and inform them of Loki's location. The threat they held over the Rutelalian race was far too great to be ignored or disobeyed.

She only hoped that her warning to the MiB would avoid the Chitauri's notice.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Thank you everyone for the reviews, I love them all so much. I'm writting a little bit ahead now, so I sorta know what's going to happen, but everything's still open for influence if you'd like to do so. But I hope everyone likes this chapter and the Avenger-ness that'll be increasing as we go on. Enjoy.

**Working Visa**

It wouldn't surprise any of the Avengers to learn that Tony had projects on the go that went above S.H.I.E.L.D's head. One of many monitored any unnatural power productivity in the near reaches in space. It required a satellite, and while his company had several he now had his own private device, painted gold and red, of course, circling Earth. It'd had several upgrades installed onto it since its conception, but was not specifically intended to pick up alien transmission.

JARVIS noticed a strange transmission aimed towards New York. There were many other things that constituted 'strange', and JARVIS had been programmed to detect 573 of them. This particular transmission was strange because it had a specific destination and also strange because it was in English.

"Sir, the Stark Satellite had detected a suspicious transmission."

Tony looked up at the voice as he set down his torch and removed his welding goggles. There was no one there to see, but they irritated him.

"Play it for me."

"It's come through in text, sir. It states: 'The Chitauri are returning. Keep him safe'."

"The Chitauri?"

"Indeed."

"Huh."

Tony rose from his crouched position in the centre of his workshop. The genius had studied the Chitauri bodies that had collapsed in the streets of New York and had determined that they had a hive mind due to cybernetic implants, and that there were many hives .He knew that the Chitauri wouldn't have sent their entire people to attack Earth, but he had doubted they would rally so soon after defeat.

However, Loki had been missing for a long while, and considering how low he had been lying it was possible that he was remarshalling his resources. Loki probably had another army on standby. Even though the god had been arrogant during his campaign, convinced past the point of reason that he would win, he was smart enough to have a back-up prepared.

Not wanting to deal with S.H.I.E.L.D and Fury and what would undoubtedly be a lot of bureaucratic paperwork regarding how Loki disappeared from under their noses (and a Stark Industries security system, but he chose to ignore that part), Tony bounded into his workshop elevator. A few of the other Avengers had moved into the mansion and while they rarely interacted with each other. It was an inordinately large building after all, but Tony knew where at least one of his guests would be.

There was a second laboratory that Tony used to use, which meant it was linked directly to his sub-level workshop and just a short elevator ride away. It was where Bruce had taken up residence, a small cot set up in the corner even though he'd been offered his own suite, and the radiated scientist was guaranteed to be hunched over a desk, scribbling intensively.

"Hey, Bruce. Need your opinion on something."

* * *

El decided that at some point in the future he would have to get rid of his fidgeting habit, but it may be a long way off. The MiB had received an important transmission, one that apparently involved him if the way everyone was stonewalling him was anything to go by.

He had been left alone in Kay's apartment, the interior of which looked more like a state manor than a flat, while the two more senior agents had disappeared into a different room. El kept glancing at the closed door while tapping an old-fashioned fountain pen that he had found on the desk. Every part of him didn't like that they were talking behind his back, especially given the importance of what seemed to be going on.

The hidden discussion was getting more intense behind the closed door. Jay's voice was raised and sharp, although El still couldn't make out what he was saying. Kay's voice remained inaudible, which wasn't surprising given that the man didn't have many different volumes, vocally or emotionally.

Closing his eyes, El focused on breathing as an unknown anxiety crept up his spine and settled in his mind. Whatever was going on in that secret meeting, El decided, did not bode well for him.

He rose from the desk and walked through an arch and into the living room before he situated himself on an armchair and pulled his feet under him.

After watching the door single-mindedly for what seemed like an eternity, but was actually fifteen minutes, it was opened casually by Kay who led the duo out of the room. Jay looked worried, but gave El an apologetic smile anyway, and Kay looked... like Kay.

They took up positions on different chairs, with Jay sprawled on the couch next to El's chair and Kay moving another armchair so that they formed a triangle.

El swallowed thickly. "What's wrong?"

Kay gave a rare and valuable smile. "Nothing we can't handle, son."

"We were sent a warning," Jay elaborated, "that an alien threat is coming to Earth. So, we've got some time to prepare, get our shit together and whatnot. It's kind of a good thing."

Kay nodded. "Except that the aliens are targeting you specifically, which means that we need to get you off the planet or they'll take it apart to find you."

"Yeah," Jay agreed, "Yeah it's good except for that part. _But_ since we know it's you they're after, we know how they're going to proceed and thus we can figure out what they're going to do and how we can prevent them from doing it. So there's no reason to worry or anything; we've got this. You're safe. We," he gestured between himself and Kay, "will keep you safe."

"Except we have no idea when they're going to be here, or how many are coming."

"Kay! Man, just... shush."

El looked between the two agents. They were the only friends he had in the universe, and the only two MiB agents who looked at him like an asset instead of a trophy. Something important was passing between them, something within the unique Jay and Kay dynamic that El still felt like an outsider to. He didn't want to be responsible for damaging anything that the two had, and he shifted uncomfortably. If he was going to help he needed to know what was going on.

"No, don't shush." El said, "Something else is going on here. What is it?"

There was a tense moment, where Jay looked at Kay and Kay looked at El. "I received the warning directly," the older agent started, "not the MiB. Jay doesn't want to get the agency involved. He wants us to handle it ourselves."

"Why?"

"Because of you," Jay answered, "and because of Kay." He ran a frustrated hand over his head, looking for a moment like that was all he was going to say before he stood suddenly. "Look, I just don't want them questioning Kay's decision to being you into the agency, alright? They're twitchy enough about it already."

"They're always twitchy, Slick." Kay said gently. "And I can handle anything they throw at me."

"_You_ can, maybe." His eyes flicked to El, who bristled slightly under the implication. It must have shown on his face because Jay sighed, "I just don't want anyone looking down on either of you for this, you know what I mean? We bring Zed and the agency into this then, El, you seem like a liability and you, Kay, could seem obsolete and having poor judgement. I just... I only just started getting used to," he gestured vaguely, "_this_."

El smiled somewhat sadly, touched by the sentiment. "You go behind MiB's back and we could lose you for insubordination and that's out of the question."

Kay gave El an approving nod that made warmth blossom in El's chest before the experienced agent looked back over to Jay. "I guess that's two against one, slick."

* * *

"I think that finding out who this 'he' is that was mentioned should be the priority." Steve said, looking around the table, "We should insure that the message is delivered to the correct person, otherwise whoever the Chitauri are after won't get the protection they need. Is there any way to locate the original recipient of the message?"

"Nope," Tony responded, popping the 'p' sound and swivelling his chair around, bored with the conversation and having to repeat himself. "It was directed at New York. That's it. Albeit, on an unusual frequency. They probably already got the message anyway; we didn't steal it from the air. It's not a letter, Cap."

"I know that."

"The Chitauri are an immediate threat." Spoke up Natasha, drawing Tony's attention from the 40's soul. "Trying to protect an individual is pointless if the bastards are going to tear apart everyone else to get to them. Preventing the Chitauri from coming here needs to come first."

"What about the people who sent the message?" Came from Bruce, "Tony's said that they're not Asgardian, so who else would want to warn us about an incoming invasion? If they're willing to warn us maybe they can help too?"

"Then where were they last time?" Clint leant against the wall near the door, keeping a lookout for Fury's approach.

"That attack was instigated on earth, maybe they didn't know."

"Maybe they didn't have time."

"Regardless, we've been warned now so we can prepare."

"But we don't have enough information. We need to find the intended recipient; they might know what needs to be done."

"And if they don't then it's a waste of time and resources."

"What about the man who needs to be protected, he might kno-"

"Again, he might not! Then we've just wasted our time!"

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?"

"Guys," Clint interrupted, pushing off from the wall and moving over to the conference table where everyone else was arguing. "Fury's coming down the hall."

Tony sighed and stopped moving his chair. He had hoped that they would have worked out a game-plan before bringing S.H.I.E.L.D into what was going on. Even though they had resources and military tactics behind them, which would benefit the Avengers beyond belief, he was aware that the S.H.I.E.L.D director had to report and answer to the World Security Council.

And after finding out that the council were the ones who had launched the nuclear missile at Manhattan, Tony was having some trust issues.

It wasn't Fury's fault, the Ironman knew that. If anything there was a new respect for the one-eyed man, knowing that he had put his faith in the Avengers and told the council to stick it. The fact remained, though, that S.H.I.E.L.D essentially was a business, and Tony knew more than most the bureaucracy that came with running a business.

However, the Avengers still needed a uniting force. In board meetings at Stark Industries, Tony could sweep in and stop any argument by throwing his father's name around, talking about how it was his name and reputation on the line, so what he said was law. With the Avengers Nick Fury was cast in that role. As much as Tony hoped that one day they would all follow each other and form a cohesive unit, they still had difficulty coming together. In the heat of battle they were like a well oiled machine, and although they had mostly gone their separate ways they still kept in touch and got lunch every now and again, they weren't quite what Coulson would have wanted them to be.

But with so many different opinions, trying to settle on a course of action by themselves didn't seem to be happening. Every one of them wanted to be a team, but beyond the period during the initial shock and grief over Phil's death, it was proving difficult, and the poor man couldn't die every time the Avengers needed to get their shit together.

"There better be a reason why you didn't come to me with this straight away, Stark."

Tony smiled indulgently, "I didn't want to disturb your beauty sleep... Did you get enough? I can't quite tell."

Fury slammed the folder down on the surface with more force than was necessary. He looked around the table at the five faces, and Tony smirked to himself when he realized that Fury had come to the same conclusion that he had. That Fury was the parent, and they were the children not quite ready to fly off on their own.

"We've been reassured that the Tesseract is still on Asgard, so they should be coming to Earth by ship. We've been given codes to an 'early warning detection system' that will let us know when there in our solar system. The people who gave us those codes, however," Fury gritted his teeth, "refused to give us access to any sort of planetary defence system."

"So they gave us the means to watch the invasion, but not to do anything about it?" Clint asked, incredulous.

Bruce raised his hand slightly before asking, "Who are 'they', exactly."

Sighing, Fury pinched the bridge of his nose in a rare sign of humanity. "They are The Men in Black."

At this, Tony burst out laughing. It was intended as a short burst, but with the room so tense and attentive he found it pouring out of him uncontrollably, unable to look Fury in his eye so instead closed his eyes and threw his head back. He tried to catch his breath to explain his hilarity to the others, but it took him a good moment.

"The Men in Black are a conspiracy theory!" He managed to get out, "Perpetrated by inbred hermits and middle-aged virgins who live in their parents' basement. I think you need a tin-foil hat to go with that paranoia there, Fury." He giggled again, wiping tears from his eyes, "'The Men in Black'. Nice one, Nick. Didn't think you had it in ya."

"It really not funny, Stark."

"The Men in Black don't exist." Tony exclaimed, throwing his arms up in explanation. " Seriously, does S.H.I.E.L.D support paid psychiatric leave? You might wanna look into it."

"You really think you're that good, don't you?"

"Well, yeah." Tony shrugged, "I'm not sure what that's got to do with the conversation, but yeah."

"Just because you've never hacked their systems or _can't_ decrypt their anonymity it doesn't mean they don't exist. They are secretive, they are _arrogant_, they are stonewalling us and they are very, very real." Fury smiled coldly. "They don't want us involved in this, but we are the ones who dealt with the Chitauri last time, so if those suited-up sons of bitches think they can freeze us out of this then they've got another thing coming. This is _their_ fault, and we're going to prove out worth by getting them out of it."

Tony blinked as the S.H.I.E.L.D director lived up to his name. The Men in Black must be everything the nuts say they are if Tony hadn't been able to discover their existence, and clearly they had pissed people off. He tried to think of something pithy to say, one that would hopefully close the meeting so that he could go investigate this organization further, but Steve leaned forward, blue eyes curious.

"What do you mean, 'this is their fault'? What did they do?"

Fury sighed, showing all the years and stresses on his face. "They've got Loki."


	5. Chapter 5

I'm fudging some Chitauri info, but hopefully it bridges the gap between the movieverse and comicverse versions. Hope that's okay :P  
Enjoy

**Working Visa**

Kay had reported the message to Zed shortly after his and Jay's conversation. The Men in Black immediately set about trying to contact the Rutelalians in an attempt to find out how, exactly, they were associated with the Chitauri and what implications this had on their newest alliance.

With pressure from the pentagon, and the not so subtle hints that S.H.I.E.L.D had prior experience with the Chitauri, MiB had surrendered the codes to their early warning detection system. However, they had refused to confirm the existence of ArcNet to the younger organization, let alone provide any access to it. It was only partially from spite, but mostly because it had been entrusted to them by an allied alien race and handing it over to another organization without permission could cause a breach of trust. They didn't, however, expect S.H.I.E.L.D to understand that reason.

Kay leant back in his armchair and looked across at the dark haired man opposite him. Loki was reading a book, silently sprawled along the couch in his natural Jotunn form and looking far more at ease with the situation than he should be, all things considered.

The newly appointed diplomat was staying at Kay's overnight, the older agent not wanting to leave him alone when a death-hungry race was after him. The apartment didn't have much more protection than the one Loki had recently been moved to, although it did have more concealed weapons, but Kay still felt it was safer to have Loki close. From the body language and appreciative smile, he was confident Loki felt the same.

The red eyes had frozen on a page of the book, looking through the text not at it as a tension filled Loki's body.

"You okay there, Skip?"

Loki looked up, "Yes, I'm just thinking." He turned back to his book for a moment before he sighed and closed the cover, not making note of the page he was up to. "Lady Deodora said that the Rutelalian nursery moon had been attacked. I'm worried that it may be the Chitauri who instigated it."

"Could be." Kay agreed, "Although, if the Rutelalians had already been attacked then why didn't they warn us about the Chitauri while they were here? It would have been one hell of a lesser risk than shooting a message through space."

"True," Loki hummedm "They may not have found out about the Chitauri's involvement until after they returned."

"Or the Chitauri weren't coming to Earth before the Rutelalians returned back home." Kay leaned back in his chair and removed his gaze from Loki, staring into the electric fireplace. "They _needed_ our cooperation with the planet's core, but if they gave the Chitauri Earth's location it would violate the agreement and risk their loosing access to it."

There was a moment where Loki turned this over in his mind, while Kay waited for him to come to come conclusion.

"I don't blame them," came the eventual response, "They were only protecting their children. I'd do the same if I had any."

Kay looked back over at the blue agent and the tendrils of ice that had spread across the couch as Loki's emotions had unfolded. He knew from his own experience of being neutralized how hard some memories could be to deal with once they were gone. As Kevin Brown whenever it had rained he had always felt like there was someone who should be with, reaching out an offering comfort to. At the time he had written it off as a morose mood, spurred by dark weather. Now Kay knew it was because having your memories erased didn't get rid of parental instincts, it only made them confusing.

"So would I," said Kay, "The Rutelalians protected themselves as best they knew how, and there's no way to erase what the Chitauri did. All we can focus on now is protecting Earth." He leant forward, elbows on his knees, and waited until ruby orbs locked onto his eyes before he continued.

"It's not your fault, son."

* * *

Steve didn't really need to work out. His body took care of his muscle definition and strength naturally. However, he often found himself almost literally vibrating with pent up energy, his body preparing itself for a war that was no longer on and creating energy that had nowhere to go.

The treadmill was on high, tilted at its steepest incline. The belt was warm under his feet from the constant friction it created.

When Loki had disappeared from custody there had been enough fuss from Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D that he had let it be. It was clear that it wasn't an ordinary break-out, but that the higher-ups didn't have any information that would have help retrieve the prisoner. If they had then they wouldn't have been nearly as panicked and, as a good soldier, Steve knew when he should and shouldn't push.

He didn't like knowing that Loki had gone willingly to work for another organization, or that they had _stolen_ Loki from them even though the two groups should have been allies. It wasn't an unheard of relationship between two groups on the same side of a war, as it was a kind of struggle for turf and credit. However, at the end of the day, Steve figured, as long as both teams didn't lose sight of what was important, protecting the safety, freedom and rights of the people, he wasn't going to criticize.

What troubled the unofficial Captain was that they were the type of institute who would _want _someone like Loki working for them, and had the ability to convince the liesmith to play for their team. It spoke of a darkness; an underhandedness that surpassed any manipulations or secrets he'd seen within S.H.I.E.L.D. Well, what he had seen so far, at least.

The treadmill beeped a warning that it was heating up too much and Steve jumped to the edges of the base and turned the device off gradually. He panted and gripped the handles while doubling over slightly. Drops of sweat fell from him and he took a moment to revel the heat that was pouring off his body, as it was a fleeting reprieve from the memory of ice.

As far as the 40s hero could see, none of the Avengers really trusted S.H.I.E.L.D. Even Clint and Miss Romanoff seemed to rely on each other for protection and support rather than expecting it from their employer. Tony didn't seem to trust anyone other than himself, but the men of black's ability to hide from the billionaire genius had shaken his self-image and confidence in a way that S.H.I.E.L.D never could.

It really was a case of 'better the devil you know than the devil you don't'.

Doctor Banner seemed to be the only one who didn't seem to hold more mistrust towards these men of black than he did with S.H.I.E.L.D. The fact that they dealt with aliens and alien technology seemed to put him at ease, as it was a reassurance that such a powerful and enigmatic organization wouldn't be joining the manhunt after him.

Steve really didn't know S.H.I.E.L.D that well. They had set him up with an apartment and tried to get him to sign himself and the super-soldier program over to them, but he'd withdrawn from their attention and they'd mostly left him alone. They'd offered him support in a way that he didn't need; in information and finance but had not, in at least until the Avengers had come along, offered him a purpose in life.

He wondered what purpose the men of black gave Loki.

* * *

The main hall of the MiB was always buzzing with activity. Jay had often wondered about their open-plan architecture, and if it was maybe some kind of alien fung-shway, but all he knew for sure was that it made it very difficult to try and do things behind someone's back. However, he attempted it anyway as he typed furiously into his computer, in an attempt to navigate the back channels of the system.

He may have been overruled about taking the Rutelalian warning to Zed, but he still stuck by his opinion. Things were very touchy around the office concerning Loki, with several safeguards in place to prevent him from accidentally discovering who he was through records and careful planning to avoid any crossover between the neuralyzed god and his former life.

Safeguards, it seemed, that were now moot.

Jay knew that Kay couldn't have been so naive to think that Loki's presence wouldn't come back at them in some way, but he was willing to bet that no one expected it to bite them in the arse quite so soon.

It had been the Chitauri's fault, Jay felt. They had been the wild card, not Loki, and he hoped that Zed and the others would see that.

Still, Jay's desire to avoid telling the MiB about the impending attack didn't, as Kay had assumed, mean that the younger agent thought they could handle this alone. He was fully aware that the Chitauri threat was not to be taken lightly, but the Chitauri was one of the rare species that the MiB didn't have extensive files on. All the information they had was from the incident in Manhattan, and a short paragraph from a Dr. Erik Selvig with what he gleaned from Loki's behaviour while he'd been under the influence.

They didn't know enough, Jay had decided, and because of that he felt they had presented the problem to the MiB too soon. It probably seemed like they had passed the buck onto their superiors, making them clean up the mess that Kay had brought into the agency.

_Message Type: Partially encrypted text. Destination Planet: Coultra 3  
Flint. We've been warned that the Chitauri are coming back. I need a quiet way into Shield so we can get the Avenger's help. Do you have any suggestions or information that can help?  
AJ.  
Sent From: MiB-HQ_

He leant back in his chair, holding his breath to wait for the tone that told him that the higher-ups had intercepted the communication, but nothing came. After glancing around nervously he leant forward at his desk. Flint was very efficient, and Jay knew the reply wouldn't come more than ten minutes after his query had been sent.

_AJ. After work drinks at Rie's Bar, Thursday 8pm. Find Maria Hill, she's Fury's second-in-command. I don't know how you can convince her, she's pretty by the book, but if you get past that she'll help. Good Luck._

* * *

Loki slept soundly on Kay's bed, the sheets crinkling with ice from each movement. He seemed peaceful, and the guilt that had been still clear on his face when he'd curled up on the covers had temporarily dissipated. The senior agent wanted to cover the blue man up with a blanket, but he was not completely sure if that would provide comfort to the frost-giant or simply overheat him.

He smiled slightly as the Jotunn rolled onto his stomach and snuffled into his pillow.

They were going to need to brace themselves for the incoming attack. Although Earth had ArcNet, it was possible that the Chitauri knew a way around the defence system and, besides, Kay wasn't entirely sure that they would be coming in ships like most assumed. They had needed Loki and the Tesseract to send an armada to Earth, logic would say that they wouldn't suddenly be able to fly over without the energy cube.

Kay didn't agree with Jay when he'd said that they could deal with the invasion on their own. There were too many things going on to risk overlooking anything or underestimating their importance. He needed the backing of the Men in Black, so that they could prepare for an all out attack while Kay discovered what was really going on.

If the MiB took care of the threat to Earth, he could take care of the threat to Loki.

He sat behind the desk in his study and unlocked the middle left draw. Inside was a collection of material pouches and he pulled out one with a gold and bronze woven cord, from which he slipped a pale stone into the palm of his hand.

Closing his fingers around it, Kay muttered a few words in a strange language; a variation of Old Norse.

If he was going to offer Loki the protection he needed, then he was going to need help.

* * *

There were six sub-species of Chitauri, and they all had their different abilities and weaknesses. Each were still reeling from their recent loss, the destruction of a complete branch of Chitauri which had resulted in their people being brought down to only five sub-species. They were a race in mourning, and they were looking for someone to blame; someone to take apart and put on display for the rest of the universe to protect what they had left.

Thanos had been heavy-handed with his invasion. His deal with the Warrior-Chitauri hadn't included any of the others; he hadn't seen their benefit as they were not all bent on mass destruction and war. However, for the remaining Chitauri divisions their interest in Earth had become far more personal.

They had lost their armour-plated brothers and sisters, a painful telepathic severing that had driven dozens of Chitauri to insanity and suicide from the severe loss.

In a back-alley of New Jersey, two individual Chitauri looked at each other. They rolled their left shoulder in acknowledgement before they sent a brief telepathic message to the others back on their homeworld.

'_We have arrived safely on Earth and we will be victorious._'


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Updates will probably be a little further apart from now on, as the school term has started back up again. I'm also going to try and get a few chapters ahead of publishing, but things will continue on I promise.

**Working Visa**

New Mexico wasn't the only place that connected Midgard and Asgard. However, with the destruction of the Bifrost, any residual energy that had been left there from previous trips aided the dark magic that was used for inter-realm travel and helped to smooth the journey. And, really, it needed all the smoothening it could get.

Thor tipped sideways, stumbling on the landing as a motion-sickness rose in him. He closed his eyes for a moment to regain his balance and god-like poise before his blond eyelashes fluttered open to meet a familiar sight.

"Lady Darcy," he smiled, "it is a pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise, big guy."

The god prince pulled her into a one-armed hug, hyperaware of the fragile Midgardian anatomy as he allowed her to lean against him without his placing too much pressure on her frame with his massive biceps. She was soft beneath him, so unlike the muscled or boned Asgardian women, and, while he had no preference for one over the other, he quite enjoyed the sensation.

His father had informed him that he was needed back on Earth. A diplomat of the Men in Black organization was in need of Asgardian protection and that according to the treaties between the two planets, and the conditions of Thor's new visa, he was obligated to hear them out. Although, Thor knew that if someone was in danger he would most likely agree to help them anyway. It was his, somewhat self-appointed, duty to protect the people of Midgard.

"How is Jane?"

"She's great, though not in the country at the moment," she smiled, "isn't seeing me good enough for ya?"

Thor laughed and moved towards her vehicle, arm around her shoulder. "I was told I was meeting with a representative of an esteemed organization," he explained. "I do not think it appropriate if you were here when they arrived. I understand they are not very open to outsiders."

"Yeah, I know." Darcy pushed Thor's arm off his shoulder and moved so that she was standing in front of him. He looked down curiously as her dark slips smirked up at him. "The Men in Black did some immigration work for my great-grandparents back in the day. Most of the blood's diluted by now, but I still got a bit more awesome in me than your average human."

"Really?"

She opened the door to the car. "Hell yeah. I'm here to escort you to a secure location, after that I'm not sure what they're going to do to ya; I'm just a glorified paper-girl and it's above my pay-grade." She ignited the engine as Thor slid into the passenger seat. "I'm sure they won't do anything horrible to gorgeous man like you though; it might start an interplanetary incident if all your females back home get word of it."

Chuckling, Thor swallowed around a sudden lump of nervousness. "Let us hope it doesn't come to that."

* * *

Clint enjoyed his new assignment. The man who regularly reminded others that he was a 'genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist' had frequently passed through the rec room, stomping his feet like a petulant child and muttering to himself about invisible organizations and encryption codes, alien tech and black suits.

Tony hadn't come out of his laboratory, pouting, for a while so Clint assumed that he was making progress in breaking into the Men in Black's system. He had the backing of S.H.I.E.L.D's technology and IT departments, but the ironman seemed to be taking the task as a personal quest to prove his superiority, and had refused any help. It might have been closer to a vendetta, Clint mused, with the way Tony was channelling all his indignation into it.

Clint knew how efficient S.H.I.E.L.D could be, and the archer would have felt more comfortable with them aiding Stark. As it was, he just had to settle for supervising the intellectual under S.H.I.E.L.D's orders and reporting back to Fury on the progress Stark was making.

He had mixed feelings about Loki working for this mysterious organization. While he would have liked nothing more than to see Loki hung, drawn and quartered, Clint had wondered just how massive Loki's potential could have been if directed through a more productive channel.

The archer had a vague recollection from his captivity, of Loki, not necessarily being manipulated, but at least influenced by an outside force. He'd thought that it had just been a reflection of his own controlled state, as his addled mild wasn't able to fathom how someone could have power over their own motivations. When he had been saved, it had been labelled as delusion and put from his mind. Now, however, it seemed that what he'd gleamed of Loki's incentives may have been right.

It was clear to Clint that the impending Chitauri invasion was some sort of retaliation for Loki's previous failure. Judging from the quite moments when Loki thought no one was looking, there had to be a higher power driving the attack; The Chitauri government, maybe, so desperate for their people to go to war that they hire a god to lead them.

The other Avengers, excluding Thor, seemed to think that Loki was a bucket and a half full of crazy, but Clint knew better. Loki wasn't crazy, he was just broken and desperately clinging to something that Clint couldn't recognize.

What this meant in the context of Loki working for the MiB, Clint didn't quite know.

"I got it!" Came a gleeful call from the lab, and Clint propped himself up from his dozing position on the lounge to better hear Stark as he tumbled into the room. "I'm in! It was a _beautiful_ security system, really, but I've never met a system I couldn't crack." He skipped a little as he walked over, "Check this out."

Tony fiddled with a small glass screen before the impressively large television lit up with files and codes that Clint couldn't make heads or tails of. It was fascinating, and there were a few images that caught his attention, but Tony waved a hand dismissively and skipped onto more boring-looking things.

"Hey, I was watching that." He grumbled.

"Look," Tony brought one file to the forefront of the others, "They know everything there is to know about us and S.H.I.E.L.D. From the looks of it, they weren't interested until Thor came along," he pulled up a few more files, ones with freaky creatures that looked like they could wipe the floor in a costume competition, "which brings us to this..."

Tony pulled up a file labelled 'L', which didn't contain any pictures so Clint squinted at the text as it rolled across the screen. However, Tony moved on before he could take much in.

"I was reading that, Stark."

"That's not really important on the whole. Basically it just describes a diplomatic agent, one that was not born on earth and has ties to Asgard and S.H.I.E.L.D. The point is that it's very existence is confirmation that they have Loki on their payroll." He shut the screen down and collapsed into an armchair, his excitement draining away with his energy.

Clint nodded, hoping for the sake of Loki and everyone who would cross his path that the Men in Black were not just using the god to get back at S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I've got a few of their incoming communications, too." Tony continued, "I couldn't figure out where there headquarters were, exactly, but I know how we can get in contact with them."

"We?"

Tony ignored him, "Someone called A.J. is going to be at Rie's Bar, to try and use Agent Hill to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Why would they need to do that, if they know everything about us? Couldn't they just hack our security?"

"They probably want a more subtle approach. Either way, Agent Hill isn't going to be alone when this A.J. guy shows up."

* * *

Klyzer felt no fear separating himself from the other Chitauri on the new planet they had landed on. Their telepathic connection meant that they were never really alone, and the confidence he felt from his partner helped to reassure him that their mission would succeed.

He had never been the biggest fan of the Warrior-Chitauri, they had been the antithesis of his own Shifter species, but their loss weighed heavily on them and just as his opinions was shared by all, their pain was shared by all. For that reason he planned to relish the victory over the humans.

The dwelling was small, but neat. Klyzer hissed at the emptiness of the room, having hoped to find his first form there.

"Honey, is that you?" Came a voice from beyond another section of the house. A tall-human-male appeared in the door, wiping his hands on a cloth. His eyes widened when he noticed the alien standing in his home, and Klyzer hissed a chuckle when he made a mad reach for a draw and pulled out a gun.

The Chitauri swung out and struck the weapon from the man's hand, sinking his teeth into the first patch of bare skin he came in contact with.

Memories flooded into him, and he felt his form shift automatically to try and compensate for the new identity that had filled his mind.

As the human's body was devoured, Klyzer became more and more grounded into his new assignment. He knew he was now DanielHill; Freelance journalist and Husband to MariaHill, S.H.I.E.L.D agent. DanielHill had enough knowledge to reassure the shape-shifter that he was in the right place, just not at the right time.

It would be just as easy to play as DanielHill until their plan was to come into motion, but if something went wrong with their preparation then it would be easier to make DanielHill disappear than his Wife.

He would, eventually, take on the role of his new Wife, MariaHill, but not until the other Chitauri shifter was in place. Until then, he could wait.

* * *

Thor was cold as he walked through the MiB halls. Darcy had escorted him to a tiny cabin the in the middle of the desert, and from there a man in a black suit had taken him into an aircraft to meet with another man in a black suit. He was having some trouble distinguishing between them, used to elaborate clothing and the almost colour scheming that people of his world had a tendency to follow.

He smiled in relief when he saw a black suit with a familiar face.

"Agent Jay! It is good to see you again."

"You too, man."

Thor pulled the agent into a quick one-armed hug. "How have you been?"

"I'm good." Agent Jay pulled back from Thor, professional concern on his face, "I assume you've been debriefed on what's been going on."

"Indeed." Thor choked on the word slightly, ducking his head down as it felt like he was taking Mjolner to the chest. "You have taken the mind of my brother, and accepted what remains as your workmate."

The agent blinked and gestured for Thor to follow. The god allowed this disrespect only because he was desperate to see what had become of his brother in the hands of these men.

"It's a little more complicated than that." Agent Jay explained. "We gave him the option of working with us voluntarily or we would erase his memory against his will and convince him he works for us anyway... But that's not what ended up happening," He added quickly, to cut off Thor's protests. "He _asked_ for the memory-erase option. He wanted a clear slate for a second chance and we gave it to him."

"But before that you were using it as a threat."

Agent Jay grimaced, a sign which earned Thor's approval as they continued through the web of corridors.

"Yeah, we were. Not our finest of moments. Now, we're trying to be as honest as possible about who he is without revealing too much about his past. He wanted to forget for a reason; you might be able to understand why better than we ever could. You don't have to lie to him about who you are if you don't want, and you don't have to tell him the full truth either. Just use your judgement."

They rounded a corner and came to a glass door and Thor recognized the figure within as his brother from the stance and the way his hair curled up at the ends. He was wearing the same black suit that every other agent wore, and the sight of it seemed to make the situation far too real for Thor's liking. Loki, who was always ostentatious and full of energy, even when it was compresses as cold and still as stone, now showed nothing of his personality to distinguish himself from the inferior humans around him.

Then Thor caught sight of a green scarf folded over the back of a chair, and he smiled. Maybe there was some 'Loki' remaining in this stranger after all.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:**I was a little torn with this chapter about what direction I should go in, but hopefully it meets all of your expectations.

School and work are still taking up the majority of my time, but because I left the last chapter open-ended I wanted to get this done at a reasonable time. The next one will probably take longer and I'm really sorry for that.

Please enjoy...

* * *

**Working Visa**

Thor stared at, but not through, the clear glass door, as it felt odd that he was going to have a first meeting with someone he'd known his whole life. He knocked on the doorframe, deciding that it was the polite thing to do, as he wanted to make a good first impression since he had to give one.

Within the small room, Loki spun around, smiling mildly in professional courtesy before he approached the door and opened it for Thor.

"Hello," he started, "Come in."

"Thank you." Thor mumbled, moving into the room and past Loki, not able to meet the green eyes directly. He didn't want to admit that he was scared about what he would find there, and he didn't know if he could stand the lack of recognition that would undoubtedly lie within.

The room was small but seemed open with its glass walls. Agent Jay, who had escorted him to the room, had disappeared from the hallway outside. It left Thor feeling alone, despite the company of his once-brother. The fact that his presence now provoked such an empty space left him feeling sick; he had never before felt alone in the company of Loki, even after they had started going for each other's throats.

"You know why you're here, don't you?"

"Yes," responded Thor, not turning to face the other.

"Then you are the bodyguard sent from," there was the turning of pages, "the planet 'Asgard'. Thor, right?"

It stabbed Thor in his heart to hear that Loki needed a _file_ to remember his name and the name of their home. "I am indeed."

He swallowed thickly and turned.

Loki stood regally on the opposite side of the table behind a metal chair. He had his head tilted curiously and Thor decided that he would, as he always had, protect his younger brother with everything he had, and that if he was going to accept this assignment then he would have to discover the rules that Loki was willing to play by. His brother deserved nothing less from him.

"What name do you go by now?" the blond asked softly.

"I'm called 'El'." Uncertainty flickered across his sharp face, "Did you know me... before?"

"Yes," Thor felt his throat tighten, "I did. We are-" he took a shaky breath and a step closer towards Loki, the table still between them as he changed his sentence; "You were taken in by my father as an infant. We were raised as brothers."

Surprise lit up Loki's eyes, and Thor couldn't help the smile that sped across his face at viewing the reaction, even though he knew it was tinted with a sadness that Loki wouldn't recognize.

Loki pulled a chair out from behind the table and sat in it hesitantly, his mind clearly drifting with the revelation. "I had no idea. No one told me." He folded his hands in front on top of the table and stared at them contemplatively. "I had assumed that I had no family to speak of. I don't know how I could have erased my memory if I had someone to leave behind. But I have a _brother_." He finished in awe.

It was the first time in years that Loki had said that word without spitting it in derision, and Thor tried to speak but couldn't form words around the emotion that had become stuck there. So he nodded instead and sank into the second chair. He watched the younger man turn the situation over his in mind with misty vision. There was a freeness around his younger brother's eyes that he hadn't seen since before his half-century birthday, and Thor was stunned to realize just how long his brother had been pained by his life and how long he had been ignorant to it.

"We'd had a falling out." Thor's voice came out rough and choked, "and I fear I may have inadvertently abandoned you many years ago. No doubt you felt as if you had no one to leave behind." He tore his eyes away from Loki's unfathomable gaze and stared at the table as he tried to blink his vision clear. "For that, brother, I will be forever sorry. You deserved more in your life than I could provide, and I am grateful that you have found it here."

While Thor was indeed thankful about Loki's new-found purpose, it did pain him to know that it was only with such removal from his past life that he could find peace. It had been his greatest hope that he could have helped Loki heal and have the friend that he remembered from their youth returned to him. Now, it seemed, that Loki's healing meant that Thor could never have the brother he remembered.

Thor closed his eyes. "Even if you don't remember our childhood, and even though you have carved out a new corner of your life without me, you will always be the most important person in my life. You will _always_ be my brother."

... "Thank you, Thor"

The thunder god's gaze snapped to Loki's when he heard a choked, watery laugh. He saw tears glittering on Loki's sharp cheekbones, and a small but devastatingly sincere smile on his lips. "I'm not entirely sure why, but it seems to mean a lot to me to hear you say that."

Thor sniffed and cleared his throat. "It's my pleasure, El."

"The-" Loki hesitated, " The Men in Black agents discard their real names when they join the agency. I don't remember what it is, but I wouldn't mind if you wanted to call me by it."

After a pause, Thor nodded. "If you're sure you want to know it."

"I feel I owe you that much, at least, for putting you through this."

"You don't owe me anything."

Thor watched as Loki turned back to the file and swiped at his eyes and nose, visibly trying to pull himself together while his ducked head gave him the privacy of having his expression hidden. In the past, Loki rarely bothered showing such composure around him, even after their falling out, the intensity of emotions that the mischief-maker showed was never stifled for the sake of dignity. They had seen too much of each other for that.

Now, it was only Thor who had seen that part of Loki, whereas Loki had seen nothing of Thor and thus had no reason to trust him. He didn't know if this would be harder or easier to rebuild than it would have been if Loki had kept his memories, but it wouldn't stop him from protecting Loki with everything he had in him.

"Do we know why the Chitauri are attacking Earth once again?"

The green-eyed man looked up in surprise. "Well, apparently they're targeting me." He closed the file, "I'm not quite sure I want to know why, but I suppose if you know anything I should then it'd be best if you enlightened me."

Thor frowned, debating how much his brother would need to know and what he would want withheld. "You were allied with them, briefly. It did not end on friendly terms. I had thought that the Chitauri were now extinct, so I had not considered they would come after you. Had I known, I would not have let you out of my sight."

Loki gave a small, lopsided smile, "Well, you're here now." He rose from the chair, taking the file with him."And yes, I am sure."

"Sure of what?"

"Knowing my name," Loki said quietly, "I do want to know.

Thor stood, meeting Loki directly in the eye and smiling. "Loki. Your name is Loki."

* * *

Maria Hill was a professional. She tried to keep her nose out of her colleagues' personal lives, and expected that they do the same. Of course, she knew everything about everyone's personal life without having to stick her nose in, but that was neither here nor there.

She expected a certain level of decorum in the workplace and everyone knew it, so when Clint wandered into her office in casual dress and a bright smile on his face she didn't need two years of profile training to be able to see that something was up.

"Barton," she greeted, putting as much suspicion into her icy tone as she could.

"Hey, Maria."

She raised an eyebrow.

"I mean: 'Hello, Agent Hill'." He gave a small, apologetic smile before continuing unprompted, "You know this Men in Black turf war that's starting up over the Chitauri," It wasn't a question; she knew he knew she knew. "Stark has intel that a MiB agent is going to try and liaison with you at the Rye bar to try and infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D."

Maria swivelled her chair to face him more fully. "Did he get this from the hack? It wasn't in his report."

"He did, but it can't be that surprising; He's never going to trust us." Clint shrugged, "He wanted me to apprehend the guy, but I figure it'd be easier to let you in."

She smirked and decided that it could be fun, "Do we know who this guy is?"

* * *

Loki. The name rolled through his mind like a familiar song, but it left him feeling cold. It was lucky, then, that he had company in the humble apartment in the form of a new-found brother.

He had been relocated to a small apartment a block away from the MiB building. It was a safe house, of sorts, and was re-enforced with alien tech to keep him protected from the Chitauri, but it wasn't designed to house more than one person. Thor, however, had simply smiled at the dwelling and unfurled the inflatable mattress between the small television set and the coffee table.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather stay in the apartment across the hall," Loki called from the kitchen, as he heard the frantic sounds of the mattress pump coming through the archway, "Agent Jay ensured it was available for you."

"Nonsense," came Thor's increasingly cheerful voice, "How am I supposed to aid you if I am too far away to tell if you are distressed."

Loki chuckled and shook his head slightly at the enthusiasm. There was something infectious about the blond man's emotions, they seemed to spill out into the room and wrap themselves around the small Jotunn. It was easy to put together, from the way Thor had decided to protect him from a close distance, that he was the eldest of the two and Loki felt oddly comforted now that he had a protector.

Even though it was uncomfortable being around someone who knew him better than he knew himself, Loki kind of liked having a connection to the past he couldn't remember. Although, Thor was quite awkward, like he didn't quite know how to talk to Loki, but was putting all his enthusiasm into trying to learn. It was touching, really.

He stirred the sauce on the stove before turning the heat down.

"I appreciate the sentiment," he wiped his hands on a dishcloth and moved into the main living room, "but I don't want you to feel like you have to stay here just because of the assignment."

Thor, head still down as he pumped air into the bedding, answered, "Do you not want me here?"

"Of course I do," Loki smiled shyly, "you're my brother."

Thor looked up with a smile, but it froze when he noticed Loki there. Something passed over his eyes and his face arranged itself into something more polite, rather than joyful, before Thor returned to his task.

"Is everything okay?"

"It is fine. I just," the blond hesitated, "I have never really seen you in that form before."

Loki looked down at his blue hands, the patterns twirling themselves around his fingers and forming loops on his wrists. "This is my natural form. Is it unattractive?"

"It is... unexpected."

"I know that you are Asgardian, but surely you knew I was Jotunn if we are the brothers that you say we are."

Thor glanced up for a moment, but returned to the mattress as he covered it with a clean sheet. "My father informed me of your heritage. But you lived in Asgard as an Asgardian; you're true nature was never put on display. Indeed, my father explained it to be defence against scorn, a self-protection where you never showed yourself to be anything but Asgardian."

Loki looked back at his sapphire skin. Staying in human, or Asgardian, form was something that required his constant attention. It wasn't exactly physically draining, but it did tire his mind if he had to maintain it for a significant length of time. He could not imagine how he could be so uncomfortable with his natural body that he was able to, it seems, permanently and unconsciously keep up the illusion.

"I see," he mumbled uncertainly. "Would you be more comfortable if I were to change?"

Thor made a noise that sounded like he was going to respond in the affirmative but had stopped himself. Blue eyes looked back up at Loki, and ran themselves over the Jotunn, making the MiB agent shift uncomfortably and almost change into his pinker form just to escape the gaze.

The god of thunder turned back to his bedding. He answered in one word, so full on conviction that it was all the response needed.

"No."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Thank you for your patience. I've had this chap sitting on my comp for a little bit. I didn't want to post it by itself after a long break because it's kinda a filler-chapter, but it'll be another week or so before I'll have time to write the next one (which will have more plot, I promise) so I wanted to give you something now.

Anyway, thank you again and I hope you enjoy.

* * *

**Working Visa**

Jay woke to a throbbing head and a weird tasting mouth. He could remember a beautiful brunette with short curls and dress that was slightly two short for a casual after-work drink. The MiB agent hadn't expected Fury's second-in-command to be so comely, but he had been as much of a gentleman as possible while trying to use her to get access to a secret organization.

He should have been suspicious about how receptive she'd been, but he assumed it had just been his natural charm.

Besides, after months of hanging out with Loki he liked having a woman looking at him for a change. As much as he loved hanging out with the ex-god, being around the prince didn't help Jay with the ladies as most barely noticed he was there.

The plan was to gain her trust and then tell her why he was there. He hadn't wanted to lie to her to get what he wanted, but he had his trusty Neuralyzer on hand, so that if his attempts failed then he could start again.

He had been just about to admit to what he'd been doing when he'd felt a sharp pain in the side of his neck.

It'd been a tiny needle, and Jay had looked over to see a man gleefully waving a blowpipe, barely the length of his smallest finger, and smiling in a not entirely friendly way.

Then the sedative had taken him out.

As he looked around, Jay could see that he hadn't gained consciousness in an S.H.I.E.L.D interrogation cell, at least not an obvious one. It was always possible that it was a ruse, as his memory of the dartsman supplied him with the name 'Clint 'Hawkeye' Barton', a known S.H.I.E.L.D agent. With two agents banded together, Jay didn't like the chance that his capture was unrelated to his planned infiltration.

He seemed to be in a tiny apartment, one that appeared to have been very well lived in. Apart from the clothes and unwashed dishes that had been scattered around, there were also some personal touches on the room's surfaces that indicated someone trying to make themselves at home for the long haul.

Jay, stretched across the cheap mattress, noticed Agent Barton crouched on top of a trunk at the bed's foot.

"Do you have a death wish?"

Jay blinked. "What?"

"Do you know how many people have tried to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D operations?

Clearly, it had been a hypothetical question, but Jay couldn't help but show off just a little. "Twenty-eight," he supplied casually, "twenty-nine if you include yourself during the last Chitauri incident."

Barton's face seemed to close down slightly, his gaze dark and piercing. "_That_ was the responsibility of Loki. It wasn't me." He smiled, sudden and sharp, "You know Loki, right? He's the guy responsible for the deaths of about..." he pretended to think, "_five_ thousand people, at least anyway. He's on your payroll now, isn't he? I wonder what that says about you."

Jay felt himself involuntarily bristle, "It's the Chitauri are accountable for those numbers, not Loki."

"Loki didn't _have_ to do what he did. It was his choice; it was his fault."

Frowning, Jay took a moment to assess the curious touch to Barton's words. There was something restrained in them; an uncertainty, maybe, but Jay couldn't quite pin-point what it was about. He was a middleman at MiB, he knew that. He assessed whether people were earnest, he could sometimes press them to confess. He was the one who was the personable contact that people could go to when they had a problem, but he wasn't always the one to solve it.

He could tell something was wrong, but in this position he wasn't skilled enough to read what it was.

So, Jay took a stab.

"Is Loki accountable for the people you killed, then?"

"_Yes_," Barton shot, "He is."

"and the Chitauri aren't."

The archer frowned. At the reaction, Jay tried to sit up as much as he could with his limbs tied down, seeing a window he could pry open.

"So Loki is responsible for everything that went on? He had the choice, and not you or the Chitauri?"

Shifting, Barton bounced backwards down from the trunk, his eyes still trained on Jay as he put a little distance between them. "That's different. I don't know how much you know about what happened, but I wasn't in control of my own actions." He crossed his arms, his whole body tight and defensive, "Loki had a device that removed free-will. The Chitauri followed him willingly."

"Well, why did they follow Loki if they had free will then? If they wanted to destroy Earth, they didn't have to use Loki." He looked away casually, to underplay the point he was going to attempt to drive home, "Bit risky, isn't it? Why trust your success on an outsider who has nothing to lose if he fails? Seems like a bad idea to me, man."

Subtle manipulator he was not. Jay could accept that. It was generally Kay's wheelhouse, anyway.

However, it seemed to do something in Jay's favour, as Barton loosened the tight knot of his crossed arms and shifted on his feet. He clearly had doubts about Loki's motivations with the Chitauri, and Jay had heard a little from Thor about how, in the end, Loki had seemed reluctant to continue his assailment on Earth.

Of course, that had been right before Loki had stabbed Thor, so it may have just been wishful thinking on the part of the thunder god.

"Barton?"

If Jay hadn't been bound, he would have jumped at the female voice. He arched up to try and see above his head, but the bed had been moved away from the wall to keep Agent Hill out of his vision. However, the archer looked up to where Hill's voice had come from, but his eyes flickered as if there were two people standing behind the headboard.

"You know, it's not very nice to gang up on a guy when he's unarmed." Jay protested.

"It's also not very nice to waltz into someone's home and start touching their things," stated a disembodied male voice, "but that didn't stop you from taking Loki."

Jay hissed at the third person, "You don't _own_ Loki. He came to work for us _voluntarily_ and he had been nothing but an asset." He added to Barton.

"Is that why the Chitauri are going to attack earth? Is that part of his 'assets'?" Snarked voice three.

"What? Oh, come on! You really think we would do that? We _protect_ earth, and, hey, we were the ones who gave you access to our detection systems, _and_ the asking for your help in fending the Chitauri off. So, no, we're not launching an attack on earth, and we aren't using Loki as a pawn to do so." He settled back into the bed, trying not to pout, but probably failing miserably.

Barton shook his head, "We know that," he shot a hard look at the mysterious third person. "The Chitauri are coming after Loki, aren't they?"

"Yeah."

"So what makes you think we'll help? We're not exactly his biggest fans."

"Because they're not going to stop at just Loki, and I can guarantee that y'all are on their radar." He looked to Barton, who was looking at him concernedly, like he was trying to weigh up the situation. Jay sighed, "Look, you may have been able to stop them last time, but that was luck. You can't send Stark with a bomb every time they get close to us; I guarantee the next time he ain't coming back."

Barton's eyes flickered, like he was trying not to look at something. Or someone. It successfully identified the third voice as Tony Stark.

"We have the resources," continued Jay, "to resist the Chitauri invasion, but we're... not great with public relations. There are thousands on aliens living on earth, but the Chitauri are the only extraterrestrial encounter the population knows about. If they come back, then people are going to freak out."

That was the story Jay was going to stick to. He knew it wasn't necessarily about utilizing the Avenger's public image; it was about extra security to protect the only mentor he had ever known and the closest person Jay had to a brother. However, it was a weakness he wasn't ready to expose.

He also knew that none of the Avengers, except Thor, were aware of Loki's memory erase, so they wouldn't understand just how important it was that the MiB came out of this invasion on top. He also didn't particularly want to explain it to them, as he didn't want them to think they clear shot at revenge since Loki wouldn't remember who to be wary of.

Part of him also wanted to keep Loki for himself. He liked his little family as it was, and while he knew that the Avenger's involvement was necessary he didn't want them to get in the way.

Jay swallowed his insecurities, "We also need your experience with the Chitauri." He added, "The MiB doesn't like admitting when they encounter a race they don't know about, but we don't really have much intel and we need your help."

Barton stared at him for a moment, before he looked beyond Jay's sight for guidance.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent nodded.

"Okay."

* * *

Bruce always felt awkward when they called him an Avenger. Most of the time he felt more like a vessel or prison guard for the thing they were more interested in. Sure, he had his science, but at the end of the day, when the universe had opened up and aliens poured down into the streets of Manhattan, science wouldn't be what they wanted him for.

When he sat at the meeting, waiting for it to start, he sketched out some algorithms and generally kept to himself. If people wanted to talk to him then he wouldn't have minded a chat, but it was often tense before their meetings, and no one quite knew what to talk about.

It wasn't until after the meeting ended that anyone felt like that had something to say, as everyone was generally relieved to have a common ground to stand and converse on.

Tony had called the meeting and Clint had backed it up, just as Bruce had supported the Ironman's decision that they needed to talk about the MiB. It seemed that the billionaire wasn't confident enough that the collective would listen to him without someone else to back his sincerity. It was a little sad, really.

He tapped his pen on paper for a few moments before returning to his numbers.

It didn't take long for Tony to enter the room, with Clint and a strange man in a black suit following behind him, chatting amicably over a small cylindrical device.

"Okay, guys" Stark started, clapping his hands like Bruce's old schoolteacher, "Let me start by fill you guys in..."

* * *

Jay sighed as he pulled up to his apartment. Despite being captured and tied up for five hours without a bathroom break, it had been a good day. The Avengers were difficult nuts to crack, but it seemed that most of the others followed Stark, and despite the ironman's distrust with Jay he seemed to accept that MiB had the best resources to deal with the Chitauri. It was clear that they were still weary and stressed from what had happened the last time they had invaded.

It'd helped that Jay had mentioned Thor, and how he was now working with the MiB. Although, he didn't say what, exactly, the god was doing.

Entering the small and highly undecorated apartment, Jay flicked on the lights and threw the keys onto the bench before receiving a sharp slap on the back of the head.

He pulled a small but sophisticated space-gun from his pocket; not quite a noisy cricket but it'd do. His heart was punching through his chest and his finger almost convulsed around the trigger as he spun, raising the weapon so fast his shoulder pulled in its socket.

Kay stared down the barrel, the vaguely amused expression in his eyes not quite reaching his face.

"Cool down there, Slick. I'm just here to see how your little visit to Stark tower went."

"Kay! What the hell, man?"

Jay contemplated keeping the gun raised. It was clear that Kay knew what Jay had been doing behind the Agency's back. Although, to be honest, he wasn't particularly surprised that Kay had somehow gained that knowledge. He slowly dropped his gun and sighed, returning to his journey to the kitchen.

"So, are you going to tell on me to Zed in person or just put it in the report? 'Cause I need to know how long I've got before they neuralyze me into retirement. Is there time for me to get the sunglasses fused to my face?"

"Retirement's not so bad."

"_You_ couldn't handle it."

Kay shrugged, "It's not for everyone." He sat himself at the kitchen bench, folding his hands on the surface. "So how'd it go? Are they going to help?"

"Yeah," Jay opened the fridge to rummage, "hesitantly, but yeah. They're not very trusting. Hell, I wouldn't trust me if I was them." He pulled out a beer. "I think they've only agreed because of Loki; they're either curious to see him be helpful or scared that if they refuse then it'll piss of an agency strong enough to control him. Or both, maybe, I d'know."

"Do we need to worry about S.H.I.E.L.D's influence?"

"Nope." Jay offered a drink out to Kay, "I left Agent Hill neuralysed, so we're just dealing with the Avengers."

"Good. You're leaning." He accepted the bottled liquid, "If we're going to do this then we're going to have to explain Loki to them."

"We've got some time to explain this to Zed if we need to," Jay relented, "and then a tactics meeting with the Avengers tomorrow night about the Chitauri. It should give 'em enough time to adjust to this before we throw Loki's situation at them too."

Key nodded, "How do you think they'll take it."

Shrugging, Jay took a sip of his beer, "Hell if I know."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N**: We're gettin there...

* * *

**Working Visa**

There was the average flurry of activity around MiB HQ room, but no one looked close enough to see that Kay was compiling information to smuggle out of the building and to a secret Avengers meeting.

A meeting that Kay was actually looking forward to.

There were a few accusatory looks from security, people who had been up for the full 37 hours a day monitoring their detection system and waiting for the Chitauri. MiB had been restricting the amount of aliens that they were letting into the country as a security precaution, and they were cracking down a little bit harder with customs. Everyone was on edge, afraid of an alien race that wasn't in the agency's databanks, and suspicious after being sold out by an allied race.

A skinny man in a suit that looked a size too big for him, even though all uniforms were tailored, approached Kay's desk with caution. He was fiddling with a small device that he probably should have been treating with more respect. The small silver 'W' nametag pinned to his lapel indicated that he worked in the arrivals terminal.

"What do you want, kid?"

"I-I've got this, Agent Kay, sir." He held out the device. "We were having trouble contacting the Rutelalians? This... guy? Maybe... I-It looked male, anyway... He came through customs with this communication device. It works on a Rutelalian sub-space channel. We can use it to contact them with the MiB access-code? I-I don't know what the code is, though, so I brought this to you." He flushed, "Obviously, as I'm standing here."

Kay raised an eyebrow at the device and took it from the nervous agent.

"It's a very out of date model. Rutelalian's haven't given anyone access to their channel for decades."

"He said he didn't want to transfer over so he never upgraded; the Tetrail channel doesn't have as many free minutes... Which is true, I suppose, but the Tetrails don't charge as much for talk-"

"Dubya?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Be quiet."

Agent W blushed and put his head down to study his shiny shoes. Kay rolled his eyes and went back to the intergalactic phone, turning it over in his hands a few times. They didn't quite need to contact the Rutelalians now that they had the Avenger's help to fend off the Chitauri, but if they could provide a clearer timeframe about the attack then Kay admitted that it was worth the attempt.

Without knowing what they use the channel for, the younger agent was also correct in his assessment that they would need to send the MiB identification codes so that the Rutelalians would know it's not a hostile force.

The enthusiastic, but nervous, young agent standing before him looked appropriately eager. He was about to be handed a chance to prove himself worthy of more than just detaining jello smugglers.

"Take this communication device and send a message to the Rutelalians," he reached for a pen to copy down seven symbols onto a spare scrap of paper, "This will get you through their defence systems. This top secret, top priority." He handed the paper over with the small device.

The young agent's eyes lit up with achievement. "Thank you, sir."

* * *

Thor happily watched the many species amble through the terminals of the MiB. There were so many bright colours and beautiful forms. He had procured several burgers from a store within the building, spread them out across Loki's desk, and was slowly munching his way through all the different types of bun-clad delicacies with a broad smile on his face.

Loki was typing away at a computer. He had spared the food products an annoyed glance but had simply returned to his work. Thor's apologies had been dismissed with a wave of his hand, and Thor had been permitted to place his burgers in Loki's space. After all, Loki had said, they were _brothers_.

And what was a little burger grease between brothers?

Agent Kay had allowed Loki to resume desk duties, which was the majority of his responsibilities. Apparently his silver tongue left its mark on the page as well as the ear.

Thor had liked the elder agent. He'd reminded the prince of Heimdall, the all-seer. The desks were arranged so that the diplomats were placed high above the fray, but could look over the balcony, where the more hands-on agents resided, so the prince looked down on the elder agent and the fray of colour.

"I suspect Agent Jay doesn't like me." He announced.

Loki blinked up from his papers. "I don't think that's the case. Most likely he just doesn't understand you."

"How so?"

"Well, he sees aliens who come here to either experience our culture or destroy us. I don't think he understands how you can be here in peace and yet not properly assimilated into the culture. You're also known to the public, which sets everyone on edge. They spend most of their time hiding earth's visitors.

Thor nodded. He threw a wrapper into his brother's bin, picked up another burger, and smiled brightly when Loki stole two fries with a small blush of guilt.

The Asgardian turned back to his observation. He noticed a small, baby-faced man talking to his new friend, Agent Kay. They were talking over a small contraption that they had passed back and forth, but they were ceasing their communication and the younger one had turned away.

However, there was something odd in the way the way he walked. It wasn't faked or awkward, but seemed to come too easy, with something too slinking in his movements. Like an eel in the water.

Thor dismissed it.

* * *

Loki was fairly certain that whatever he did in his past life hadn't involved paperwork. Or maybe it had, and that was why he wanted to forget it, but either way he knew it was something that did not agree with him.

When writing up reports his first instinct was to omit important details and leave things vague and he had been worried that the agency would not how allowed such minimal reports, and that he would get fired. Instead, they put him onto polishing reports so that they were palatable for the government and public. They also had him drafting aliases for agents and immigrants, carefully spun blankets of lies that could outsmart even the CIA if something came up.

It was boring work.

Loki wanted to continue with the Rutelalians, as he felt responsible for Deodora's people and what had happened to them. He knew it was probably bad form for an agent to get emotionally involved with a situation like this, but the guilt had left a sick taste in his throat that wouldn't leave.

Thor helped to dilute it though. He was an overbearing, protective force who seemed to make the whole experience palatable.

They had spent most of their time together talking, and Loki had quite enjoyed learning about his brother. The fact that he was a prince interested Loki, and what it meant for his own social standing. When questioned, Thor had frowned and taken his time trying to find the most appropriate words, something which told the MiB agent more than any language could. Eventually, the thunder god simply expressed that they were both raised as princes, but left it at that.

Afterwards, Thor had told him stories of their childhood, pausing at frequent intervals to double check that Loki still couldn't remember any of it. He seemed to take it as a mild insult that Loki had chosen to forget his entire life, including the happier memories of his earlier life. The Asgardian couldn't seem to understand how he could sacrifice the good memories in order to eradicate the bad, but, despite this, he seemed to respect the decision.

Sighing and running a hand through his locks, he pushed his chair back from the desk and burgers.

"Are you sure I'm not annoying you?" Thor's blue eyes look at him with worry. "I can remove the foodstuffs if they are intruding."

"It's fine," he reassured his brother, "I'm simply going to the restroom."

"Then I shall await your return."

Loki nodded gratefully and rose, taking care to tuck the chair back under the desk before he left. He could feel Thor's eyes follow him as he walked the length of the balconied level towards the bathrooms. He turned slightly to give his brother a smile, to let him know that he appreciated the vigilance with which he was insuring his safety.

It was nice to have an unconditional comfort ffter feeling as though he was drowning in his new life. Not that he didn't appreciate Kay and Jay; they had placed their faith in him and built an entire existence and support system for him to survive in. It was true that he would be alive without them, but somehow he doubted that it would have been a life worth living.

Jay and Kay were his family in the MiB, but they weren't... _family_.

There was something different with Thor's affection. It was more honest and unburdened by agency politics or tension, with no ulterior motives or regard for any consequences that may stem from their association with each other.

It was nice.

However, Loki had noticed Jay pulling away slightly. Whether it was his hesitancy with Thor or because he was allowing the brothers to have space, Loki didn't know. All he was sure of was that their lack of communication was not because of Jay working on a project outside the MiB.

He turned the corner and chose the appropriate bathroom: 'biped'. There were several stalls in the bipeds bathrooms the with different silhouette images on their doors. Different shapes for different shapes, Loki supposed, but he didn't understand why the humanoid stall was the furthest from the door when they could only move half as fast as the quadrupeds.

Really, he could have used any of the rooms if he really needed to, but he hadn't quite got a grasp on maintaining his shape-shifting abilities beyond looking human, and he didn't think it would be practical to test his abilities in the middle of a bathroom break.

His long legs took his across the room. There was no one else in the bathroom, which wasn't much of a surprise as there weren't many people who worked on the upper floors. The impending Chitauri invasion meant that most of the MiB agents were down in tactical, or trying to gather information through contacts. It was only because of his connection to the event that he was still doing extraneous paperwork.

The door behind Loki let another person through. While the Jotunn somehow new it wasn't Thor, he didn't particularly worry. He assumed it was just someone who had sort out the least busy restroom.

Loki felt someone grip his bicep, and he sighed, detesting that bathroom adequate was not universal.

"Excuse me, but I'd like a moment by myself if you don't mind." He spun around to see an agent that looked far too young to even be allowed on the second floor of MiB. He was smiling in a bright, clear way.

So full of pride.

"I know you would," The smaller man responded, "but we have some business first."

Loki turned to face him fully. "It's Agent Double-U, right?

"Today it is, yes." He frowned, "I thought you'd be," he flexed his slightly chubby arms slightly, puffing his chest up, "_bigger_. You know?"

"I'm sorry?" Loki asked sharply.

Smiling again, Agent W cocked his head to the side. "That's okay, you don't need to understand." His hand whipped out and grasped Loki's arm in the same spot it had before. Only he sunk his nails into the flesh, with more violence than a human should be able to muster, hissing in a way that was familiar to Loki, although he couldn't decipher it as a language.

He saw the edge of his vision fuzz almost instantly and tipped back, using his hand to steady himself against the back wall.

"It's tailored to your physiology. Although it might be an overdose, since we, as I said, thought you'd be bigger."

Feeling his shoulder hit the cold tiles, although not fully aware that his arm had given out, Loki slid down onto the floor as he looked into the human face that was slowly melting into something else.

Although he wasn't sure if he was just hallucinating from the poison or whether it was an actual shape-shift, Loki felt an protective force in the back of his mind; a memory that was trying to force its way from the grave.

As the other being approached, all Loki could remember was terror.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Hi. i'm sorry for the delay. I've had end-of-year examsso they had to get priority, but they're all over and done with so I can keep going with this fic again. Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things easily enough.  
Enjoy.

* * *

**Working Visa**

Loki couldn't move his body as the tall creature approached him, with, what could only be called a toothed 'beak', pulled into a sharp grin. The black suit which it had worn in its human form now hung from the reptilian shape, several inches too short in the sleaves but heightening the surrealism that gripped the heart of the fallen god.

He managed to open his mouth, although the drug didn't allow him to feel his lips part, but he managed a strangled choked noise in the back of his throat.

His instincts were telling him to summon Kay. That Kay would know what to do, and know how to protect him.

It was only his second thought that Thor was closer.

Loki realized, briefly, that he should lash out and try to make noise against the sink or something, but when he attempted the action his body refused to respond to him. He was completely helpless, unable to move or speak. He hoped that it at least meant his face couldn't show the fear that was pulling him down.

From the satisfied look on the other alien's face, Loki suspected that fear would be devoured as encouragement.

The creature pulled a remote from its pants' pockets and fiddled for a moment, trying to manipulate it with the too long, inhuman looking fingers.

As an alarm rang through the MiB building, a small bubble of hope rose in the base of Loki's stomach, which solidified when his gaze came back to the creature opposite him. The long grin was back on the odd face.

"_Security breach_," came a metallic voice, "_emergency evacuation sequence activated. Prepare to flush._"

Loki felt his eyes widen before the liquid rushed in from the corners of the roof.

The water was artificially blue, tainted by a sedating chemical that was aimed to halt any invaders who weren't trained to know what 'flushing' meant. He tried to suck in some extra air to keep himself going, but whatever the drug had done to disable him meant he could not consciously expand his lungs, leaving him vulnerable to more than just his captor.

Squeezing his eyes shut a moment too late, Loki felt them sting as the liquid overflowed his senses, filling his nose and throat.

A rough hand grasped the back of Loki's neck, not lifting him above the water but simply holding him secure, to ensure they two of them moved through the same tubes to the concealed exits. His head throbbed and his chest seized as it begged for oxygen, and even though his Jotunn physiology could survive without air for significant periods of time it wasn't ideal, and the sedatives were already doing their thing as Loki felt his grip on consciousness start to slip.

Somehow, even underwater, the swimming creature managed to crow a low laugh.

* * *

Kay had sprung from his desk as soon as the alarm had started to ring. He was fully aware of how long he had between the alarm sounding and the room flooding with watered down chemicals, and he started counting down the seconds as he dashed across the floor. Although he was getting on in years he could still move, just not fast enough to make it up the stairs and to the Asgardian pair in the twelve seconds that had been supplied.

"Loki!" He called out as loud as he could while sprinting. He reached the bottom of the stairs before a cascade poured down and knocked him back, his arm flinging out to grasp the railings.

He pulled in a breath and held his chest as relaxed as possible, trying not to stress his lungs more than they needed to be. He closed his eyes against the aqua and tried to keep a hold as the water pulsing down tried to force his grip loose.

The senior agent had, at least, the sense of mind to shift himself to the side to avoid a collision with anyone who got swept down the stairs. Agents were trained to get as far away as possible from staircases at the warning alarm, but, as the purpose of the evacuation was to catch intruders off guard, it was more than possible someone could have come flying down from the second floor.

He tried to remember how long the flush went in the main halls, not worrying too much about his own ability to hold his breath but dismayed at the wait to find out if Loki are Thor were okay.

As he gathered patience, a strong arm wrapped around his waist and Kay was pulled back away from the banister and through the water. Whoever had grabbed him moved and dragged the both of them around.

The pressure around his middle made Kay's lungs protest and he tried to push away, but he didn't want to subject his eyes to chemicals and there was only so much progress one can make without seeing ones assailant.

They breached the surface of the water, something which was highly improbable given the chaos of the room, and Kay knew that he would never survive the current if he broke free of his captor.

A deep rumble in the chest behind him stopped his struggle.

"Stay calm, my friend." Thor's voice effortlessly rose above the chaos of water, "My brother has been swept away from my grasp, but be assured that I can pull you to safety and we shall find him together."

* * *

With the Avengers having been only recently splashed across the news, everyone was on edge about them being recognized and their secret meeting ending before it started. It was one of the reasons why Tony had been talked out of coming. He was too high-profile.

Anonymity was one of the few things that Bruce could thank The Other Guy for; anyone and everyone could recognize a hulking green anger monster, but no one looks twice, if at all, at the quiet man reading a magazine in the corner. It was a blessing hidden behind the curse.

The Avengers had split up into two groups, just to make sure they didn't look too conspicuous as a large group in a tiny diner. But from the looks of the other patrons they probably needn't have bothered. There was someone a few seats away in a trench-coat, face obscured by a large sunhat, who had managed to eat a raw steak through a straw. It'd been quite impressive, but spurred Bruce's suspicion about the Men-in-Black-Approved meeting place.

He glanced at his watch again: 8:21. And he'd already finished his science journal.

"Maybe something's gone wrong." He muttered, more to himself than anything.

Clint, who was sitting opposite him in the booth, nodded. "Yeah maybe... So, we should start ordering, then."

Bruce blinked and pushed his glasses up his face, which earned him a one-armed shrug.

"Look, there're lots of things that can delay a meeting. They're probably just sweating us, making sure we know they're the boss. It's a fairly standard technique." He looked away for a moment and signalled the waitress. "If we're eating when they come it'll shift the power-play."

Bruce looked over his shoulder to the booths where the others were sitting. It seemed as if Natasha'd had the same idea as Clint, as a waitress stood next to her and Steve's seats as she listed things on a small notepad, occasionally looking up to gesture with her pencil. Bruce looked back down at the table and frowned, wringing his hands slightly.

Although the MiB dealt exclusively with aliens, and so Bruce had little reason to fear them as he did S.H.I.E.L.D, it was a detestable power game and he didn't like that kind of arrogance from an organization. It just seemed unnecessary.

He ordered a salad, while Clint went for a burger and onion rings.

"Are you sure it's a power thing?" Bruce asked, hesitantly. While he'd made his peace with Natasha, he was still unsure about Agent Barton and he didn't want to appear insubordinate since interdepartmental politics really wasn't his field of expertise. "It doesn't really seem like the right time for a display of dominance, not when they're asking for our help."

As he fiddled with the salt shaker, turning it around in his fingers, Clint sighed. "I know. But we've got no way of communicating with them; their business cards are very boring." He shrugged, "And I'm getting hungry."

Bruce tapped his fingers lightly on the table, looking around for any signs of the secret agency and feeling awkward as he no longer had any reading material to busy himself with.

"S-So, can I ask you something?" Bruce started, his voice stuttering slightly with uncertainty.

"Go ahead, Doc."

"Why are you so supportive of this? I mean, you'd know Loki better than all of us, except maybe for Thor, so I don't want to question you, but why back Agent Jay. The Men in Black seem... untrustworthy. And Agent Jay is going behind their back it, just, it's making me nervous."

Clint frowned. "Yeah, but that doesn't necessarily mean he's a bad guy. 'Tash and I have gone behind Fury's back loads of times." He glanced at the table behind Bruce's head and back. "But the 'Mib'," he made the air-quotes, "gave Loki the benefit of the doubt, took him in and gave him a second chance." His eyes slipped back to the other table.

Bruce turned and saw that while Steve was returning from the bathroom, Natasha was still sitting at the booth and watching the street outside with a critical eye.

"Like you did with Agent Romanoff." The scientist finished.

"Yeah," Clint breathed. "S.H.I.E.L.D didn't want me to, but I did. If the Men in Black, as an organization, made the decision to embrace Loki, then that's... Odd... but it says something good thing about them."

He grinned at Bruce and glanced out of the window. The smile almost instantly fell from his face, but was replaced by and almost evilly amused glint in his eyes.

Thor was standing outside the window watching them, head tilted and eyes urgent. Bruce removed his glasses, just to make sure the glass hadn't been tinted when he hadn't been looking. Thor was dripping a bright blue liquid on the ground, which Bruce could only assume was either the colouring put in toilets or Gatorade. The thunder god's hair was also a sickly green, like he had swum in chlorine after getting it bleached.

It'd probably stain green.

Bruce smiled and waved.

* * *

He felt someone pull him along the ground by the collar of his shirt, the material ripping.

Still not able to move, Loki simply closed his eyes and tried to force calm through his bones.

No matter how hopeless the situation was Kay and Jay would find him.

* * *

They just needed to get a few more things in a row before they could take what they wanted.

_So close_.

He hissed and stretched; glad to be out of human form.

The problem with being a shifter was that it was easy to lose your identity and you had to focus on a goal to keep your mind while someone else's was swirling within you.

Klyzer was focused on his task. Focused on what he needed to do and he could tell that he partner was too. He got a wave of satisfaction from his partner and a small nudge to move their plan ahead, which he returned with an affirmative.

The failed Asgardian was on the way to the meeting point and the MiB-Rutelalian access code rang through his head.

Delivering the liar god to Thanos would give the Chitauri freedom from his vice-like grip. They didn't care what the death worshipper wanted with the failed Asgardian, they felt nothing for him, but Thanos would not appreciate them exacting revenge for their fallen brothers without some form of compensation to him.

Loki was only a distraction; a payment and means to an end.

Kkyzer, crouched on the couch's end-table, watched the inner doorknob turn as his... as _DanielHill_'s wife returned home.

His face pulled up in excitement.


	11. Chapter 11

I'm just winging Thanos, because I don't know much about him. Hopefully he's sufficiently creepy.

* * *

**Working Visa**

The first thing Loki registered when he woke was that had fallen back into his natural Jotunn form, and it was cold. When he was in human, or Asgard, form he had often felt cold in the Earth's atmosphere, but his Jotunn form had always seemed highly tolerant.

It was a testament to just how cold it was, and made it clear to Loki that he was no longer on his adoptive planet, Earth.

He knew better than to ask where he was or if anyone was there. It was a bad idea to draw attention to himself before he could assess the situation, so he tried flexing his limbs, shifting them slightly to determine whether he was tied to the hard slab. He wasn't bound or gagged or restrained, which was odd.

It meant that the person who had taken him did seem his as a threat.

Which was bad. Very bad.

He wasn't going to survive.

He could not hear anyone else's breathing, but that didn't mean much; there were many species that had no need for air. So he took the risk anyway and opened his eyes.

The room was surprisingly bright, ice blue and completely empty. He shifted his head slowly, as to not draw immediate attention, and took note that there were no visible doors or vents; just the rectangular, slightly too short slab of ice which was elevating Loki off the ground.

Pulling himself up, Loki tried to reach around with his magic to sense anything beyond the walls. Even though he was still on shaky ground with his abilities he knew how his magic made him feel when he tried to use it, and now its absence shot pain through him like trying to move a muscle that was frozen still.

Loki hissed in agony as, for a small moment, his whole body seized and his magic tried to free itself before he flopped back down into the hard surface.

"If you are planning on killing me," he spoke lowly, without a doubt that his captor could hear him, "then I would like to know how you managed to bind my magic. From what I understand that should be impossible."

He didn't get an answer.

* * *

She wondered what those agents used to be, that would make them want to disappear so utterly.

This 'K' was on friendly terms with Thor, matching the god with his dripping clothes and stained hair, and seemed different from the boys she had tried to interrogate.

Natasha didn't listen to exactly what the man was saying; she would filter through that information later. But as the Avengers sat around the combined tables, the diner closed for an hour by Agent Kay's request, she _listened_ to him.

He'd left something behind for the job. She could tell by the way he talked and by the way he approached his work. He wasn't working to redeem himself, like she did with S.H.I.E.L.D, but instead he was working to make the job worth what he left behind.

She wondered how that felt.

"Do we have any way of knowing where they took him?" Roger's voice came from her left. Natasha carefully kept her gaze on Agent Kay, and not on the other's speaking.

"I have an idea."

There was a pause, where Captain America waited for an elaboration that didn't come.

"Your partner, Jay,' he continued, "promised that we would work as equals. If you don-"

"Jay is impulsive." Kay cut in, face carved like stone. "He shouldn't have promised you anything." He leant back into his chair softening slightly but not fazed by the increasingly unwelcoming group around the table. "The infiltration of the MiB headquarters means that the higher authorities will be even more hyper-vigilant about any relocation on or off Earth. I believe that the Chitauri took Loki and had already prepared his transport off this planet."

"So, he's long gone?" Clint asked.

"I highly doubt they're still on Earth. One of the Chitauri was inside the MiB so they know we're looking for them."

Natasha frowned, "How many ways are there to move off the planet that you can't detect?" She was pleased to find that nothing changed in Agent Kay's gaze when he switched his focus from Rogers to her. No additional emotions because she was a woman. Good.

"None," He spoke, "all methods we know of we have a way of tracking."

"So it's a method that you don't know." Steve said, and if he wasn't the Captain, she would have detected something like smugness creeping into his voice.

"It's not a vehicle; they're too hard to pass through our sensors. The most probable method would be a portal of some sort."

The Tesseract, Natasha thought, but that was on Asgard and if the Chitauri had made a move in Asgard then their future king would have been informed. So far in the meeting Thor had sat quietly, eating hash-browns and gravy and not looking up at the others. It was odd, because he should have been angry, yelling at them to stop talking and start acting. He shouldn't be... _grieving_.

Not yet, anyway.

"A portal would require energy," injected Banner, "That's why the Tesseract worked so well; it was a power generator too. If there were any other portals on earth the energy could be traced."

The agent nodded expectantly. "If our headquarters was not currently being swept for leaks we would have the means, but, as it is, we do not."

"_We_ might," a subtle sharper edge entered Bruce's voice for a moment, but was replaced by insecurity almost immediately. "S-Stark would probably have the facilities that you could use to do that. And if he doesn't then I'm sure he could find them. Or build them."

"That could work."

Natasha nodded at the conclusion, satisfied at the cautious progression.

She had no fuzzy feelings for Loki, and she didn't want to put anyone at undue risk to save him.

* * *

Pain was burning through his nerves like acid. His body, now spread out across the stone ground, tensed and he tried to claw at the stone, desperate for something to grab onto and ground him.

His body was rejecting him without magic. He _needed_ his magic back.

He had lost his ability to breathe, but he hadn't died. Jotunn bodies could survive without oxygen, but it was not a pleasant experience. Gasping and convulsing, Loki was sure he was going to die from the experience, tortured to death without even being privy to who was torturing him.

Instead he got a voice.

"It's a form of withdrawals." The captor drawled happily, "Painful, isn't it?"

Loki hissed. The only noise he could make when his tongue was rigid against the roof of his mouth.

A deep chuckle, "I thought so. I pulled it out of you rather quickly. I've never experience it before myself, of course, but it does present a rather striking image. You look... so close to death"

His voice took on a more tangible quality with his last words, and Loki instinctively curled towards the flux of magic that invaded the room. He let out a small, involuntary mewling noise as he flipped onto his back, looking up around the room with too sensitive eyes and searched for the new presence. He twisted his body around, rolling with the little energy he could muster to try and get a better view.

The man was a rusted red colour with bright blue eyes, dark armour and definitely _not_ matching the recorded characteristics of a Chitauri.

"H..." Loki managed before he choked, rolling back over onto his stomach to try and put pressure on the pain in his chest.

"Who am I?"

Loki nodded, his nose brushing against the floor.

"Soon, that information will have no importance to you."

"W-W..."

"Because you are a bringer of death; of the 'Ragnarok'. _Death_ is entwined in your very being..." He rolled Loki over, the hand burning Loki's blue skin with its touch as he ran down his cheek, "I bet you die beautifully, Loki."

* * *

There was more to the story than Loki's employment, and Thor was going to tell her.

"So you've been working with the Men in Black?"

"Indeed," Thor rumbled from the passenger seat, "The Men in Black offer me work and I must heed their plea; it is a condition of my Visa."

Natasha smiled at the pride that crept into Thor's voice when he mentioned Earth's acceptance of him. "But you don't have to accept their offers, just hear them out?"

"I believe they know I will accept if it is to help someone. I cannot refuse anyone aid."

"And you wanted to aid Loki."

"... I have always desired to help my brother," His voice quietened, the normal enthusiasm in his voice dimming, "That's all I've ever wanted to do for him."

Nodding, Natasha kept her eyes on the road, not wanting to look over and make Thor feel self-conscious. It was clear that Thor felt like he had failed his brother by allowing Loki to be kidnapped. It was a natural response, she felt, to blame oneself for something like this. She wondered if Thor blamed himself for everything Loki had done, and how much of a hand the older brother actually had in spurring Loki's decisions.

"And now," Thor continued, "he doesn't need me."

Natasha glanced over at him.

"What?"

"He no longer needs me as his brother. He has another family now, with a father and a brother who have done more for him in a few months than I have in our entire time together." There was some shuffling around and a subtle sniffle somewhat covered up by the fidgeting before Thor settled down.

"I'm... sure you did a lot for him, Thor." Natasha responded, calmly awkward in the presence of the excess emotion, "even if he doesn't always appreciate it."

"It no longer matters. He is who he wouldhave been had I not failed as a brother."

She glanced over, "Has he really changed that much working with the MiB?"

"There are elements of my brother still within him, but we are our memories. I had thought that," Thor sighed, "that despite our differences and my brother's troubles, I understood him; his childhood, his betrayal by my father. I had thought..." his voice caught, "I had thought that we at least... we had some good memories together... when we were children... we... How can that mean so _little_ to him that he would throw that away?"

Natasha stared out at the traffic, not quite seeing the car in front of her as she drove.

She reached over, still not taking her eyes off the road, and awkwardly rested her hand on Thor's shoulder.

Then the implication of his words ran through her.

Loki had no memories.

* * *

"Please." Loki gasped for breath. "please, just give it back, just a little, please." He squeezed his eyes shut, tears running down his face.

"No."

Loki snarled. "Then just _kill me already_! That's what you want so just do it!"

"Hmm," footsteps circled him, "it's tempting. However, the time, I believe, is not quite right. And I know some people who would be thoroughly disappointed if they missed their chance to witness your demise."

More movement.

"I don't know... I don't..." Loki struggled through another wave of pain. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Shhh. The pain will subside soon, yet you will die regardless. And if the others come, those who wish to rescue you, they will follow you into death."


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry about the delay. Work has been busy and when I do have time to sit and write I don't have the motivation to find the brainpower needed to put words to thoughts.

I'm not happy with the Bruce and Natasha bit. It moves far too fast, but if I dragged it out any more I'd just be adding redundant conversation, so I'm not quite sure what to do with it, but I want it there.

**Working Visa**

"Tony!" Steve called out across the common floor of Stark Towers, blinking as he looked around the living space and remembered where he was. "J.A.R.V.I.S, what room's Tony in?"

"Mr. Stark is not in the building."

"Where'd he go?" he asked, moving into the room and hearing the others file in behind him.

"Mr Stark received a call from S.H.I.E.L.D and went to their headquarters approximately one hour, sixteen minutes and twenty-seven seconds ago. Should I place a call, Sir?"

Steve frowned, not wanting to disturb Tony if he'd been summoned for something important, but hesitating to go through the inventor's things without him present.

"No thank you, Mr. JA.R.V.I.S," Kay's voice cut through the Captain's thought process. The elder agent seemed unfazed by the A.I and turned to the others. "We don't need to alert S.H.I.E.L.D that something's up. Besides, I've seen Stark's press conferences and he ain't exactly subtle."

"He can be." Bruce defended, meekly.

"Not worth the risk. S.H.I.E.L.D stays out of it." Kay strolled forward and into the room, overtaking Captain America's position at the front and standing comfortably in the middle of the billionaire's living room like he owned the place. He pulled out a small, flat oval device and ran his finger along it a few times. "Mr. J.A.R.V.I.S, does Stark have anything that would detect these kinds of energy levels?"

Steve looked at the device, assuming it had a sent a S.M.S to the computerized man.

"You are not authorized to receive that information."

Kay made a few more motions on the device.

J.A.R.V.I.S answered before the Agent had finished, the majority of his programmed personality flattened into a monotone. "There are three devices in the workshop that can be utilized to detect the required energy disturbances. Minor calibrations will have to be applied in order for them to function appropriately."

"Thank you Mr. Jarvis."

"... I will have to report this tampering of my systems to Mr. Stark immediately"

Kay smirked. "Yes, you do that,"

He turned to Steve a smile crinkling the corners of his eyes, but not evident on his lips.

* * *

With his eyes closed, the only thing he could register was the rust in his throat. His body had gone numb, the pain fizzling out and leaving him tired and hot.

The other being had been standing silently in the room, watching him writhe on the floor for hours before the pain had faded to a dull throb. There had been no more words spoken by either of them for a long while, and it made Loki feel sick not knowing what he had planned for him, or why the pain had stopped.

He didn't dare look. He didn't want to encourage the red being.

"Thanos," came the rumbling correction to a statement Loki didn't make. "My name. Thanos. In my tongue it means 'the immortal death', but I prefer to think of myself as Death's immortal, for I am her eternal servant."

Loki eased his eyes open and saw Thanos standing, his arms slightly raised and eyes closed towards the ceiling, like he was worshipping a god. Or, apparently, Death.

"I'm sure that's wonderful for you," Loki croaked.

"It is wonderful. It is... a glorious purpose."

Loki's stomach lurched. He rolled onto all fours and spat to try to expel the sick feeling, watching the string of saliva fall to the stone floor and his blue hands shake as they tried to support his upper body.

Managing to push his knees between his arms to take his weight, he looked up in a kneeling position at Thanos, who was now looking at him with some equivalent to pity.

"Why has the pain stopped?"

Thanos hummed. "Your body has adapted to the loss of magic. I admit that you are stronger than I had predicted, but that's okay; there'll be more to come." He moved over to Loki and crouched so that the two were the same eye height. "This ground, that you so carelessly spit on, has already been soaked in blood from your hands. It had been _hallowed_ by death. I thought it an appropriate place for your sacrifice.

"You owe people of this land." Thanos continued, "You owe them a debt of death. They came to me and requested your demise in this chamber." He looked around at the walls, slight awe in his voice, "It shall deliver you straight to my mistress Death herself. When the moon is right, of course. We cannot leave the Chitauri without their reward."

"I don't owe you or them anything, let alone my death."

"Ahh," The red devil looked back at Loki and smiled, "but without your memory, how can you possibly know be sure?"

* * *

Natasha watched Agent Kay talk with Banner over a small device in Tony's workshop. She wondered when, exactly, the elder man was planning on telling them about Loki's memory being erased. It was not exactly something that would slip one's mind, and she didn't like that he was keeping such an important secret.

She was keeping guard over the two of them, the others being on the floor below waiting for Tony to return. She had volunteered. She didn't trust Kay with Banner.

Ideally Natasha would have wanted to confront the Kay agent alone. Subtlety and professionalism were her specialties after all, but she was very close to the line and could admit that maybe she didn't trust herself alone with Kay; That maybe she trusted Banner to stop her should she need stopping.

"So, when exactly are you planning on telling us about Loki?"

Kay straightened from his position over the workbench, Banner looking up almost in synch, a decisively more confused look on his face than was on the agent's.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Natasha tried to not grit her teeth. "Thor told me about Loki's memory." She took a step further into the room, "You erased it; gave him a new life. Don't play stupid."

For a moment, ice shifted across Kay's eyes, "It was voluntary. He wanted a clean slate and a second chance. It wasn't necessary for any of you to know yet."

"And when would it be necessary, exactly?"

"I'd know it when it happened." He turned away from the spy, making her bristle further, but the relatively patient tones of the Doctor kept her from demanding satisfaction.

"What," Banner injected, "exactly, are you two talking about." He moved around them and placed himself between Natasha and the MiB agent. His back was turned to her, and the Black Widow reminded herself not to take offence, that it wasn't because she was a woman but because Banner had nothing to fear but himself.

"Loki," was Kay's summary.

Banner took off his glasses, fidgeting with them slightly, "I may not be as much a genius as Stark, but I already picked up on that."

"They took Loki's memory." Natasha spat out, "He has no idea who he is or what he's done. They've... unmade him." She concluded shakily, "They've erased him... He's..."

Her fists balled. She noticed that Agent Kay looking up and Banner had turned to look at her, but she wasn't able to meet their eyes. So, she spun on her heals; not completely aware that she was shaking she stalked from the room, and not hesitating to leave Kay alone with Banner as anger bubbled up between her shoulders.

She was tense and her body begged for some kind of release.

* * *

Bruce watched Agent Kay for a moment as he waited for some kind of reaction from the suited man, but failed to get one. It seemed that Agent K, like all government operatives, only like to supply information when it was of greatest benefit for him, regardless of everyone else.

"You've made it much more difficult for us to trust you now."

"I never expected you to trust us, nor do we require your trust, just cooperation."

"That might be more difficult, now, too."

"You won't let Earth fall to the Chitauri just because we lied to you." Agent Kay said, assuredly, "None of you are that juvenile; not even Stark."

"Well..." Bruce replaced his glasses, bringing the other man back into focus, "I can't speak for the others, but I'm not so sure about that myself." He felt the green shift deep within him, and he took a moment to soothe it down. "It seems to me that the Chitauri haven't made much of a threat against Earth yet, not really, anyway."

The agent stilled.

"They broke into you're headquarters, quite a while ago from what I can gather. If they wanted Earth I'm willing to bet there's many devices or codes they could have had access to there that would have made light work of it... but they only went after Loki." He took a step forward, "so where _exactly_ is the threat to Earth?"

Agent Kay straightened and turned.

"It is company policy that any threat against the Men in Black constitutes a threat against Earth. _Furthermore_," he added sharply when Bruce went to protest, "by taking out Loki they've eliminated they're biggest threat; someone who knows their strategies, their leaders and weaknesses."

"But without his memories, he wouldn't know any of that anyway."

With a small smile on his face, Agent Kay turned from him. "Nothing's permanent. It'd take a lot of trauma, but his memory could be returned. I doubt it would be worth it though; Loki wanted to create a new life for himself and if he gets his memory back that's going to be a hell of a lot harder."

"So, if they torture him..."

"It's possible, but not probable. If they have any sense they'd kill him quick."

Bruce watched something pass over the older man's profile and he removed his glasses once more, something to fiddle with but mostly to fog his vision. The green had settled, humbled at the grief which passed fleetingly, yet completely, over the agent's face.

"Unless they need Loki's memories." Agent Kay continued, "He probably got a fair amount of information from the humans he brainwashed."

"...Are you alright here?" Bruce asked, earning a surprised glance from the Agent, "I want to check on Miss Romanoff, she seemed... Well, she's usually very poised under pressure so that reaction was..."

Agent Kay nodded. "I'll be fine here."

Although he felt slightly guilty about leaving the Agent unsupervised amongst Tony's things, Bruce gave him a small smile before leaving the lab.

He turned down several hallways. Natasha's reaction had disturbed him more than the news about Loki's memory-removal. He could understand, to some extent, why Loki would make such a sacrifice. If, by some miracle of science or nature, he was cured of his big green problem then he could think of many things he'd like to forget.

But maybe, he mused as he received Natasha's location of J.A.R.V.I.S, the other guy was what helped him to understand. Not knowing the horrible things his curse had done to others was worse than knowing; the guilt about things that may not have happened, and the possibility that he could have done things worse than his mind could conjure.

If Loki could live with the mystery, if what he was doing as a MiB agent made up for every horrible possibility the god could imagine, then maybe the opportunity was what Loki truly needed. It wouldn't have been a decision made lightly in the least.

He paused at the entrance to Natasha's rooms and rested his knuckles against the wood without knocking.

After a moment of contemplating whether he wanted to enter the rooms or not, the door was flung open beyond his control.

"Just come in." Natasha snapped, backing away into the rooms and leaving Bruce blinking surprise.

"T-Thank you." he took a few small steps into the room but didn't want to venture much further in. "Is everything okay, you seem... u-unduly upset about this Loki thing."

"'_Unduly upset_'? Doctor, that is not the undue action here. They," she ran a hand through her hair, "They took his memories, erased everything that Loki was and turned him into something else... That's wrong; they shouldn't have the power to do that."

Bruce took another step closer to her. "It was Loki's decision, they didn't force him. He wanted to start fresh. Agent Kay explained that."

"It was the _wrong_ decision." She snarled.

He blinked, and spoke softly. "Why?"

"Because it's not supposed to work like that." She was practically vibrating with anger, and Bruce could swear she looked green in the face.

"Ah," Bruce breathed, seeing the reason in her eyes, "I'm sorry, but, not everyone is as strong as you are, Natasha."

She turned from him, and he took it as a sign that she was not going to hit him.

"I'd do it if I was in his position." Bruce continued. "Not everyone can move forward from what they've done. Not everyone can deal with the red."

"Yeah, I know... but it's still not fair."

* * *

Jay left the unconscious doorman slumped over his desk without a shred of remorse. It wasn't like he'd never been in Stark Tower before, and just because he didn't have Stark accompanying him this time it didn't mean that he wasn't still welcome.

Jay liked to assume he was welcome everywhere.

Although, the news he bore wouldn't be.

He remembered the correct button sequence that let them up into the main floors and it accepted him, though he was surprised that the code hadn't been changed.

Tapping his foot impatiently, Jay cursed the elevator. Really, with Stark's technology he should have a faster elevator.

It didn't help when it stopped seven floors below his destination.

Jay tried not to let the annoyance show on his face when the doors opened, although he did brace himself in case it was security coming to throw him out a window.

Captain Rodgers, however, entered the small space with a kind and unthreatening smile.

"Agent Jay."

"Captain."

The door shut.

"I thought you'd be here sooner."

Ah, thought Jay, awkward elevator conversation. Fun.

"I made a stop off at S.H.I.E.L.D, had some business there."

"It went well, I take it."

"Not exactly," Jay turned to the Captain's curious face, not wanting to elaborate any further on what he was saying but knew the news would probably be more authoritative coming from Rodgers than him.

So, you want awkward elevator conversation. You got it.

"We've been trying to track the Chitauri, see if there's any more on Earth. Scanners from the atmosphere picked up a being with odd body temperature within S.H.I.E.L.D, so I went. I couldn't find the Chitauri.

"I did, however," Jay continued, "find a lot of blood in Tony Stark's laboratory there, but not Stark... They've taken him."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **I'm very sorry about being late. It's the holidays, so work has gone a bit crazy. I'll try to do better.  
Also, it's going to become very obvious in this and other chapters that I'm more a character writer than a plot writer, so hopefully you can suspend belief and overlook the pacing issues and such.

Enjoy

**Working Visa**

"I should warn you, this isn't the first time I've been kidnapped and tortured. It happens more than you'd think, actually. Or maybe not; I've been told I'm quite magnetic, and since opposites attract and I'm, you know, a good guy, maybe that's why you dickhead douche-bags can't get enough of me...

"You know what waterboarding is? Brutal... Actually, it's not so bad, just a little wet. They don't even give you a towel afterwards... what I'm saying is, clearly, that I am awesome, and you can't do anything to me that hasn't already been done, or is something I will simply learn from."

No response came to Tony's speech, and he felt oddly smug. The initial panic of being captured had faded the longer they kept him alone in the quiet space. If there was one thing Afghanistan had never been, it was quiet.

Although, why Tony felt compelled to fill the silence with his own sultry tones, he wasn't sure. Maybe it was because, with his face covered, he had nothing to focus on, so he may as well listen to his own voice.

"So you understand that this is useless, right? Whatever you want, whyever I'm here, there is nothing, _nothing_, you can do to break me."

There was a rustling of something, and a clicking sound that sounded like an army of insects.

Then a knocking, and small vibrations through his body as something, or someone, tapped meaningfully on his arc-reactor.

His blood froze.

* * *

Jay moved down into Stark's personal workshop. He had seen all the technology at MiB, with the accompanying assessments and reports on what it could do and how it was suspected to work, which was highly impressive and not just a little mind boggling.

But this was _human_ technology, made by a human brain with human ingenuity. And that was awesome.

He glanced around the room, his eyes settling on the large holographic display of energy waves in the middle of the space and a familiar dark-suited man standing in front of it all with his hands in his pants' pockets.

"Hey, Kay," he skipped a little in his steps to approach him sooner, "What's that?"

"Energy waves. Not very powerful energy waves, but from what I can gather they're being projected through Earth."

"Through?"

"I wasn't sure they were the ones I was looking for," Kay ignored him, "They seem too weak to be recent, but then I traced their origin." He looked up at Jay, "The epicentre is coming from the earth's core; where the Rutelalians have started extracting and storing power."

Jay frowned. "I thought they needed the core to protect themselves from the Chitauri, not give it to them."

"The Chitauri needed codes to access it; _our_ codes, so that they could get past the Rutelalian security system and into the Earth's core. They're infiltrators but they wouldn't force their way through. They seem to play things closer to the chest than the other species."

Jay nodded, his eyes moving from the display of the waves to his mentor's face. He saw that the lines that decorated Kay's face had deepened, and Jay could only assume it was out of concern for Loki. Even in the emotionless phone call that had informed the younger agent of the abduction, there had been an undercurrent that only the people closest to Kay would have detected.

While Loki had known he hadn't wanted to know why the Chitauri were searching for him, Jay could remember the worry in his deep green eyes. He hadn't dug into the files or asked either of the agents about the hostile force, but in the moments when Loki was staring into space, he had looked afraid.

But it had been a fear for himself as a target of the Chitauri; it was fear of the person he had been, of what he could have done to create such anger in an entire race of beings.

If the Jotunn prince's memory returned under the duress of torture, Jay hoped Loki could forgive himself.

"We need to follow them." Jay whispered, "We need to find him, Kay."

"I know, Slick." Looking up, a sad smile graced his face, "We've got Stark to handle now, too, but we'll find a way. Let's just hope we can get them both back alive, if not in once piece."

"I don't think they'll let us 'handle' Stark. They're very protective."

"They'll need us. If Stark was transported through a MiB sanctioned portal then they'll need us to get them there. They won't be able to do anything on their own, and if they know what's good for them they'll cooperate."

Jay felt the frown pull at his face before he realized he had started speaking. "Are we really going to try and keep the upper-hand here? It just seems like wasted energy at this point, man. I mean, I get it; I was a cop, so jurisdictional disputes and all that bullshit. We want Loki back, they want Stark back and _neither of us_ can do it on our own."

"I know. They have to realize that too, though, Slick, otherwise it's all going to go to hell."

* * *

"Only a few more nights."

A growl. A deep, rumbling voice. "We have already waited for his death. My people are restless."

"They will wait a little longer." Confident, calm. "We need his death to be optimal... _special_."

"We do not share your adoration for death. We need his demise for vengeance, not to gain immortal favour."

"And your people will have it. The Chitauri went to great lengths to deliver him to me... to _us_... and we will use his death to their greatest advantage. Besides, we must not let him pass like any other or his death will mean little. He needs to be carried straight to Death herself, and the moon will guarantee his swift deliverance into her arms."

There was a snarl, and the sound of spitting before something wet landed beneath Loki's ear as he felt himself pulled back into unconsciousness.

* * *

"We can guess as to where they've gone, from the energy frequencies and residual radiation."

"Loki was taken to Jotunheim," Agent Jay continued, "There are no known planets in the direction they took Stark, but we have allies close-by who might know."

"If you have allies close to Tony would they be willing to help us rescue him?"

Steve could admit that he wasn't Tony's greatest fan, but the philanthropist had earned his respect during the Chitauri incident and knew that in the crux of battle, Tony Stark was nothing but a teammate who pulled far more than his own weight. Steve could not have asked for a better soldier to be by his side in this decade and, hopefully, the next.

"It's not likely," Agent Kay supplied. "They've had an encounter with the Chitauri before and come out of it far worse off. I don't think they'd risk getting any more involved than they have to be."

The other Avengers, all gathered around the table, looked worried about the hesitancy of potential allies. Their perception of the Chitauri as beasts of battle had been proven wrong by the underhanded manner in which they were now invading. They were ready to admit that MiB allies possibly knew more about the Chitauri than they did.

But Steve couldn't blame whomever these allies were if they didn't want to get involved. Although the change in the Chitauri's strategies meant that the army captain could not accurate predict what had been done to those people, Steve would not allow the agents to place themselves in further danger for the Avenger's benefit.

He glanced at Natasha and noticed how frustrated she looked at the prospect of an unhelpful resource and it was clear she wanted a chance to change their minds. However, Steve ignored her insensitivity towards the unnamed allies for now, as she had been upset before the meeting. He didn't know the details of why, but, at least, he could guess as to the cause.

Before the meeting Bruce had informed them that a condition of Loki working for the Men in Black had been that the god's memory was erased.

One look at the saddened lines of Thor's face had confirmed the statement.

While Steve could not fully understand Loki's decision, he knew the god wouldn't have made it lightly. Nothing Loki did was done lightly.

However, he was more worried about Thor, and how this would affect the older brother. It was obvious that the thunder god was less than thrilled with his brother's decision, but what this meant for their fighting to rescue Loki, Steve wasn't sure.

Before, Thor's motivations regarding his brother had been clear, and Steve had never questioned them. Thor wanted his brother back, and was willing to do all but kill him to ensure a chance to renew their familiarity with each other. But now that there was no chance of getting his brother back the way he wanted, and Steve was worried about Thor and how he was going to act.

He didn't think Thor would give up on rescuing Loki just because he wasn't his brother anymore, but, while Steve acknowledged himself as the de facto leader of the Avengers, he didn't hold much authority over the god. Without being confident enough to give orders to Thor, Steve had no way of ensuring Thor's actions would be for the better of the team.

Steve wouldn't push the issue though. Despite the god's best efforts, his dejection was etched clearly in his eyes and the boy from Brooklyn couldn't bring himself to poke at the sores unnecessarily.

"We can divide into two groups. Half of us can go to Jotunheim," Steve stumbled over the pronunciation but soldiered on, "and the others can follow you to the allied planet."

Agent Kay's face remained impassive, but it was clear to Steve, who'd had ample experience with the military command-face, that he wanted to protest. "I tell you what, kid; I will accompany your team to Jotunheim and you can follow Jay to Rutelalia."

"That is acceptable." Thor's voice boomed suddenly as he spoke pointedly to the room at large rather than just to the two Agents, "Your Men In Black treaties will grant us invaluable passage between the realms."

Steve nodded, taking in the reactions of the other team members and trying to determine whether any would protest.

"Okay then." The Captain nodded again in approval as no one spoke. "Can we follow them through the same portal?"

"It is a MiB commissioned portal," Agent Jay shrugged, "It'd be the quickest and quietest way."

Agent Kay nodded once to him before turning to Steve for permission to end the meeting. It was a small begrudging show of respect that didn't go unnoticed by the group.

Steve returned the gesture.

* * *

Zed grumbled as he jammed his finger at the water logged controls. _Waterproof my ass_, he thought as he continued to struggle with the device that was supposably designed to withstand a flushing procedure.

"Sir?" same a voice from behind him, which, he felt, was far too cheerful given the soggy state of the building they were standing in.

Scowling and running a hand through his blue dyed beard, Zed refrained from punching something. Anything. Especially the perky red-headed agent who was standing behind him, a polite smile on her face,

"What is it?"

"We've received the status reports from the agents post-flush, sir. Agent Yu reports no unauthorized casualties or survivors. However, tracking reports for Loki, or... erm, 'Agent El', sir, fail to confirm his presence on Earth, indicating that he was kidnapped as a result of the invasion. Agent Jay has sent a message confirming Chitauri sighting on Earth linked to a yet unconfirmed disappearance of human Tony Stark and requests investigation into S.H.I.E.L.D non-terrestrial security... And Agent Em is demanding the Agency pay for the re-bleaching of her hair."

"Right. Contact Fury, tell him we're sending a sweeper team."

"... And Agent Em?"

He glared, and she ran.

Even though they were standing in a waterlogged building, with the majority of their highly-trained field agents were either mopping the floor or scrubbing blue from the walls, the leader felt slightly better knowing that Fury's organization wasn't so high and dry itself.

Zed chuckled.


	14. Chapter 14

I've only just realized how much I switch tone between segments. It's probably awkward to read, but tis fun to write so I make no apologies.

... Except for my standard update delay apology.

* * *

**Working Visa**

It took four hours for the undercover department of MiB to get into place. They easily went behind Fury's back to install the 'sweepers', as men at the top very rarely bothered managing _all_ of the staff in an organization and rarely noticed a new support staff; even if said organization was a high security, secret government program.

A few quiet words to the right personnel and seven people had been placed in strategic positions; their normal suits replaced by far less stylish but much more comfortable uniforms.

These agents were too low in the MiB hierarchy to have a fancy letter-name, buy busy enough that they had agency sanctioned, permanent identities which consisted of a single name.

Duke hummed while he pushed the broom across the floor, stopping to tap it out every once in a while, keeping a beat to the song that was coming through on his ipod.

So far all of his scans had come up negative, but he didn't mind. He was having fun trying to sing as off-key as possible to annoy the passing S.H.I.E.L.D people.

He heard someone walking down the hallway and quickly held down the button on the handle of his broom to change his 'ipod' from music to scan settings. He tried not to wince when he pressed an earphone further into his ear with his free hand and heard his head flood with white noise.

The agent didn't even bother to glance at Duke in his janitorial uniform as he passed. The MiB sweeper moved the broom towards the man as he passed, letting it do its thing.

The tone fluctuated and spluttered for a moment, but nothing beyond normal levels; mild traces of extraterrestrial DNA, but no more than would be present from a night of sex with a disguised alien.

Duke turned off the scanner and resumed humming.

* * *

Thor caught Dr. Banner as he stumbled from the trip. He gasped for breath and his face turned a strange green colour that was an unfamiliar, non-hulk shade.

"Are you alright, friend?"

"Y-yes I'm fine. Just give me a moment."

"Good." He clapped Banner roughly on the back, causing the smaller man to pitch forward and make a strange chocking noise.

"Doctor Banner," Kay turned from where he had walked a few steps ahead. His tie hung loose and the top few buttons were undone to reveal a glowing device he had placed on his chest "You might have to transform before we go any further. It's about to get too cold for humans to survive."

"Can't I just have a..." He gestured to the technology on the agent's skin, which he assumed was going to protect the MiB agent.

"I only have one with me. It was not necessary that you remain in your normal form, Doctor, so not necessary that I bring one."

Banner frowned, shifting closer to Thor, who placed a hand on the other man's back to keep in still. "S-So, you brought me here knowing it would force me to change. You realize you won't be able to control him, don't you? No offence, but better men have tried and I don't think you want to know what happened to those people."

"We know." Kay turned from the two, "We kept tabs on you for a while; a few men suspected it was alien blood that made you survive the radiation. You don't, and we stopped following you."

"Oh, well... thank you? I don't doubt that you've got data about... him, but it won't make it any easier. He won't like you trying to control him, especially to try and help Loki."

"We don't need him to help Loki, we need him to _find_ Loki."

* * *

Tony screamed.

He knew he probably shouldn't give his captors the pleasure, but he was beyond caring about anything except what was happening to his body and the pain that was radiating through him.

Something had been clasped over his arch reactor, looking like a metal spider that embedded itself into his flesh. It was causing his whole body to throb and he couldn't do anything but lie on the ground and writhe.

Tony could taste blood in his mouth and felt it dripping from his nose. It felt as if someone had reached into his chest and wrapped itself around his heart and the pressure of it was forcing the blood from his body.

However, it was doing something else to him. He wasn't entirely sure what it was, but a ringing in the back of his head was growing louder with every hour and it turned his stomach. It was some sort of telepathy, maybe, and it didn't feel natural at all.

Given time, the constant pain would become more tolerable and he could try to assess what it was. In any other circumstances he would have loved to pick apart the device and try to figure out what, exactly, it was doing.

For now, though, he would stick to screaming.

* * *

Jotunheim was colder than Thor remembered it being. He supposed it may have been because the last time he had visited he had been so full of rage that his blood had felt like lava in his veins. If that was the reason why the cold was tolerable last time, then he did not want to examine what caused him to shrink away from the icy-sting of the land that froze his bones and settled heavy in his stomach.

It wasn't him to believe that Loki was dead, and although an unfamiliar doubt had settled in his chest it wasn't in him to give up on his brother.

He glanced over at the Agent Kay, who was talking to the Hulk creature in what Thor suspected was his permanent tone; calm, to the point, and low. He was graciously holding Doctor Banner's clothes over his arm, keeping them safe for the man's return.

If the Agent Kay felt any of the guilt he did, then it was not evident in the man's profile. The human was muck like the Allfather in that sense and Thor found he envied the detachment that he had not yet mastered. Wearing ones heart on the outside of their chainmail was not as admirable quality in a leader.

That was, perhaps, why Thor felt confident to follow Agent Kay through the icefields and find Loki; someone who meant so much to the both of them.

The land was plain and shone blue through the white of the snow. There was nothing in either direction, but the Ice Mountains sat on the horizon, where Thor knew the Jotunn people resided. It was their citadel and undoubtedly where they were keeping Loki.

"PUNY GOD LOST?"

"Yes, Hulk. He's hiding from us."

"HULK FIND PUNY GOD."

"Agent Kay!" Thor called out, "I do not want have my brother hunted down by this beast, as if for sport!"

The Kay Agent raised an eyebrow at Thor, who responded with a deep frown. He was not intimidated by the green beast, but as Loki'd had a previous altercation with the hulk creature, the prince was deeply worried about how his brother would be treated should the goal be to 'smash' his younger sibling.

"Our priority is finding Loki, and conquering any resistance along the way. Do you want to find your brother, or not?"

"Of course I do."

"Then we let Hulk lead and cross the smashing bridge when we come to it." He placed a hand on Thor's shoulder, undaunted at the height, and width, difference between them. "Your brother will be alright."

Thor nodded, not really believing the human before him but willing to trust that Agent Kay cared about Loki and would insure his words were not merely platitudes.

"NO TALK. HULK FIND NOW."

"Okay," Thor breathed, turning from the human to the green creature who was looking at them both with an impatiently furrowed brow. "Hulk may find Loki now." He supplied, bowing slightly to the beast in an attempt to placate him and not get punched in the head again.

The Hulk smiled and took off in a direction just east of the Jotunn citadel. The agent Kay and Thor looked at each other for a beat and then launched themselves after the transformed doctor.

It did not take many strides to catch up with the Hulk, as the being had slowed his pace after his initial burst of speed.

"You better know where you're going, my friend."

Hulk looked at Thor and growled, not breaking pace.

* * *

Natasha and Clint sat in some kind of waiting room. The walls shone like pearls and under any other circumstance the archer would have marvelled at the sight of the alien hall.

Although they were in a grand palace, somewhere to be in awe of on any world, Clint was somewhat disappointed that other planets were not as colourful as his comic books had led him to believe. The colours were the same as Earth, it was, rather, the smells that made it painfully obvious that he as no longer in Kansas, so to speak.

It smelt clean, really, with nothing particular to smell, but it still seemed extraordinarily different.

The textures were different too. There had been a wall hanging in the lobby that looked as rough as hessian but was softer to touch than anything else Clint had ever felt.

That was when Steve had ordered Clint to put his hands in his pockets and keep them there.

"How can you be enjoying this?"

Clint looked over at Natasha, who was drumming her fingernails on the arm of the chair and looking at him with trained eyes. She hadn't said much since they'd left Earth, which wasn't all that unusual, but it was an odd kind of silence. He knew that she was having some issues with Loki's new life decision.

"It's another planet, Tasha. How could I not be enjoying this?"

"Tony could be dead."

"And he might not. This is an awesome opportunity, and there's nothing we can do while Steve and Suit Jr try and talk these guys into helping us find him. We may as well enjoy it."

Natasha looked from him, unattractive muscles working in her jaw. Clint knew it must have been hard for her to relinquish control over to Jay and The Captain, and even worse knowing their mission was in the hands of a being and race she knew nothing about.

Clint was finding it worrisome too, but had more experience than Natasha working with an organization where many decisions were out of his hands. He had become used to the decisions being made by the higher-ups. Whether he followed their decisions was another issue altogether, but Natasha still hadn't fully grasped that compromise.

Part of her, he suspected, was still programmed to follow orders regardless of what those orders were.

"Steve wouldn't screw us over." He tried to reassure her, "He actually _likes_ Tony in their weird insult-each-other way."

The spy nodded. "And Agent Jay wouldn't do anything underhanded," she added, "not when Loki's life is in Hulk's hands."

He blinked. He hadn't thought of that, although he didn't feel bad about it. Clint liked Bruce and he didn't want to start thinking of him as a weapon that can be loaded or dismantled.

Natasha slammed a fist on the arm of the chair, "What's taking them so long!"

"Hey, _you_ were the one who wanted to come find Tony and not go off to Yo-hiem to rescue Loki."

She shot him a look, and he quickly made the decision to not push the subject. He knew she'd talk to him when she had sorted through it herself and she wanted him to know; she always did.

He stared ahead at the shiny wall in front of him, and the strange clock with too many hands and not enough numbers.

Clint knew that the alien race, the Reptilians, or whatever were called, would help lead them to Tony. Tony had infinite luck and a strange habit of surviving when there was no chance a normal man could survive. It was a greater protection than his gold suit.

Loki, though...

Clint sighed.

Loki didn't have that kind of luck.

* * *

His tiny cell was filled with the smell of piss and vomit. He didn't have the ability to move beyond the involuntary shaking of his limbs. The pain that had flooded his body had abated, for now, and made way for something that rode his nerves far deeper than any kind of physical sensation.

Curled in the foetal position, Tony couldn't feel beyond fear, pain and resignation to death.

But it wasn't _all_ his.

His room had been opened up and the moonlight had filtered into his space and it made the strange device over his arc reactor glow an odd and impossible light. It caused the buzz deep within his mind and had flooded all his senses with something that Tony didn't think he could ever feel.

_Loki_.

For hours, Loki, the strange throbbing pulse of a non-human life had been within his mind and soul, chilling and burning his veins

Tony could feel the life of the god within him, far too powerful for a mortal to handle.

Then there was something else.

And he screamed.


	15. Chapter 15

Tiny dr. who reference in here, as well as the second and last appearance of Duke.

**Working Visa**

"_This is it._"

Natasha changed the settings of her small alien craft to bring it down to a lower altitude over the strange town. It was similar to the Chitauri aircraft that she had 'borrowed' during the attack on Manhattan, but it handled much better. It was designed for physiology only slightly closer to a human's, so her comfort, she knew, was probably the mental security of knowing it was not Chitauri crafted.

This vehicle was under her control; it was _her_ weapon, which meant that she had already been comfortable with it before she'd sat in its cockpit.

"_We have a game plan for this, or what?_"

She smiled at her partner's casual voice. He seemed completely at ease with the situation, but she knew better. Ever since Clint had lost his brother, the archer was afraid of losing anyone who had managed to close to him, and even if he wasn't aware of it himself, Coulson's death had spurred something deep and protective in the archer towards the rag-tag group who had embraced him even after what he'd done under Loki's control.

When on the Rutelalian planet Clint hadn't been able to stop touching new things or talking about how they weren't on Earth anymore. She knew it was just to distract himself from the possibility of them finding Tony dead, and the good-natured, almost docile nature with which he looked for orders was to avoid assuming responsibility should they not find Tony in time.

"_We split in directions_," came Steve's authority, "_Clint, go West, Jay, you can go East, and Miss Romanoff scouts South_."

She glanced at her controlled. "Confirmed," she responded, "Heading South."

"_Let's keep comms open, kids. And no one goes rushing into things half-cocked unless they're me._"

Natasha almost smiled. Agent Jay was doing to same thing as Clint. He must care about Loki very much.

She turned her plane, which was more like a flying scooter, really, in the ordered direction. The planet surface consisted of scattered towns and abandoned military bases, no heat signatures were showing up on her sensor screens and there had been no signs of movement beneath her.

Air, she felt, was by far her favourite element. Even though she didn't boast a bird-inspired nickname, and had a complicated relationship with fire, she enjoyed being above the world. Even in the S.H.I.E.L.D jets, with a co-pilot and several agents in the back, she felt alone and untouchable.

The landscape beneath her changed from the scattered buildings into a desert of dirt.

She lowered the plane and increased speed. The fields of nothing caused her stomach t sink and urgency to consume her. Where there should have been life, there was nothing; she knew something bad had happened on this land.

The surface stirred and kicked up in the wake of her lower flight pattern.

There was dark ash mixed within the dirt, flecks of white and a faint glow beneath the layers of embers that hadn't yet died. The whole landscape had burnt.

Natasha pulled her plane around, tilting it sideways to get a better, closer view of the ground beneath her, but couldn't make out quite what had happened. There appeared to be no visible point of origin, and the ash was spread evenly and not clumped to indicate where the trees or buildings had stood.

She continued along in her assigned direction, keeping the plane tilted to give her a clearer sight.

There were a further ten minutes or so of the same ground beneath her. The evidence of so much fire, how far it must have spread, chilled her, but she refused to let it affect her, even in the privacy of her aircraft.

A lump, however, slowly appeared. It started as an anomaly on the horizon, and she sped up slightly, unsure of what to make of it.

It was human sized, and not moving. When Natasha drew closer, the loose substance kicked up off the form, spreading it around it a twirl before showing a human arm and a scruffy head of black hair.

"I think I've found him. Moving in for confirmation."

"_Wai-_"

"I'll keep my distance, Captain."

"_Let us know, Nat._"

Spinning her craft around, she kicked up more of the ground to reveal a grey suit and a blue glow. It was definitely Tony. Even if it wasn't, and was a decoy the Chitauri had planted, they would have made the arc reactor's glow more prominent as to trick them.

Natasha didn't know whether his reactor would continue glowing after he had died. She suspected it might, but couldn't see from her height whether the man beneath her was breathing.

"It's him."

"_Where are you at?_"

She looked down at her controls. While she'd been given instructions about how to operate the machine, she couldn't actually read the labels, or the screens of shapes and squiggles that would have shown her co-ordinates and altitude.

"_Big mauve button,_" came Agent Jay's instruction, "_It'll send out a distress beacon and we can locate you_."

"_But so could the Chitauri_."

Frowning, Natasha pulled her plane down, touching onto the soft ash while ignoring the instruction of the men. There was nothing else in sight, and, although she didn't want to step on the cursed earth, she knew she had to get to Tony.

He didn't stir as she approached, but when she placed a hand on his shoulder, he startled. It quickly turned into choking and coughing, so violently that Natasha thought for a moment the broken billionaire would throw up.

She rolled him over into the safer position of on his side, getting ash all over her hands and arms. He continued coughing, ash and dirt stained saliva where coughed and spat onto the ground until his breathing started to even out, still wheezing but at least he seemed able to breathe.

Tony's eyes seemed crusted shut from the debris that had gotten into them, and his whole body was flushed and shaking, but his skin was clear and free of the burns Natasha had been expecting to find given his surroundings.

"Tony?" She asked.

The man beneath her choked, obviously trying to respond as his body tensed and was unable to produce any sound.

He continued to cough up gunk, and she wrapped a hand around his waist to pull him back to the aircraft.

"I'm heading back north," she slammed her hand over the emergency button, "I have Stark and he needs medical attention. Meet me as soon as you can."

Lacking a passenger seat, she draped him over her lap and raised them both from the ground.

* * *

Duke smiled at the woman-creature in the chair. It had a strong jaw for a woman, but classically sharp features that complimented it beautifully.

All-in-all, the potentially hostile shape-shifting alien had good taste in forms. Very good taste.

Agent 'Z' didn't look as impressed as Duke felt. Although the Sweeper couldn't be sure, as all he could see was the back of the qualified agent's fancy black suit. But from the look on the hot alien's face, he wasn't going easy on the thing.

"So, what have you done with Maria Hill?"

"Dead." The thing said calmly.

"That's not her body, is it?"

"No. It's probably in the sewer by now. She _was_ delicious though."

Duke raised an eyebrow and tried hard to cling to the image of the agent being a hot alien and not a steak dinner. Medium rare, probably.

He'd call his fiancée later and ask her to change dinner to chicken.

Agent Z growled. "And is that what you did with Tony Stark?"

It laughed, high, lyrical and so very human that it was probably the creepiest thing about the situation.

"Is it really _him_ you're concerned about? Or is it Loki?"

Nothing changed in the set of the senior man's shoulders, no tension or sign that he overly cared about what had been said. "So you're a Chitauri."

It cocked it's head and smiled prettily. "In one form or another."

"A shape-shifting subspecies." Z concluded.

Duke blinked. He wouldn't have gotten that. That's probably why he didn't get a fancy letter name.

"Feel free to talk about either Stark or Loki."

"To talk about one," it said, finally sounding something less than human "is to talk about both."

* * *

The Rutelalian doctors knew a lot about human biology, however there wasn't much, surprisingly, that needed doing. Mostly it was a matter of cleaning Stark up, the ash and dirt had compacted itself into every orifice and his nose, ears and throat had almost hardened with a crust of dried blood.

However, there were no internal injuries, just some strange readings in his blood which were returning to normal. The energy levels in his arc reactor had been, but they were settling down as well and no one knew exactly what it meant.

The billionaire inventor still hadn't woken up. The humans had been taking shifts watching him.

Jay didn't like being in the same room as the unconscious man.

He'd negotiated with the Rutelalians to get them to help the Avengers and they'd found Stark. Now his place was with the others finding Loki, not sitting around in a waiting room. He did think that, perhaps, he should feel honoured that the others trusted him enough to stand guard over their fallen friend.

The blankets stirred as the man on the bed shifted. Jay straightened up and looked at the door. Captain Rodgers was thanking the Rutelalian's, Romanoff was contacting Fury to update S.H.I.E.L.D on what had happened and Barton was exploring when he should have been resting for his shift.

He was alone, and he didn't know what to expect from the man who had clearly been tortured in strange ways.

Dark brown eyes flung open, and Stark coughed as if he had forgotten that he didn't need to fight for breath anymore, convulsing on the bed as his lungs continued to spasm and tried to expel something which was no longer there.

"Take it easy, man."

Jay placed a hand on Stark's shoulder pushing him back down onto the bed gently.

"You're safe; you're alive, just breathe and calm down."

And that was the crux about why Jay wanted to wash his hands of this situation and focus on Loki. They'd kept Stark _alive_, which was _weird_. He was glad Stark was alive, but it didn't really sit right with him. The Chitauri didn't seem like the type to leave someone breathing just for the sake of it, and it didn't bode well for Stark that he'd survived.

The oddly uninjured man lay back on the hospital bead, breathing heavily but smoothly. Although Jay had spoken to him, the dark eyes of the avenger hadn't left the spot directly in front of him, staring blankly, now, at the ceiling above.

"Can you speak, Tony?"

Stark opened his mouth, but nothing came out. It closed, along with his deep eyes and his face contorted with pain.

He rolled over, away from the MiB agent, and Jay wished that one of the other avengers was there to back him up, or at least be a familiar face that would have supplied some comfort for the man in the bed.

Then the laying form started to shake again, making noises that made Jay's stomach squirm.

Stark was crying. Violently crying.

"Tony." Jays hand hovered over Stark, not wanting to touch but feeling he should do something. "Look, do you want me to get someone?... I'm going to go get someone."

* * *

"He is called Thanos. He had devoted his life to worshipping death, and all the destruction that becomes it."

"And he has Stark?"

"No. He has Loki. But he will destroy Stark as promised."

Zed frowned, "So you captured Loki to deliver to Thanos? Why?"

"He told us he could punish Stark more than we could. He can make Stark pay for what he has done; make him _feel_ what _we_ felt."

"And Loki?"

"Loki is the key to Stark's torture." It leant back into it's chair, "Loki may have fallen as the leader of the other Chitauri, but we have no direct ill will towards him. Thanos wanted him, and guaranteed retribution against Stark as payment for our delivering Loki to Thanos."

"Why does Thanos want Loki?"

It shrugged, "We didn't ask."

* * *

Steve had waited beside Tony's bed for hours. He didn't speak or touch the other man, just waited until the avenger had purged all the emotions he needed to and was ready to acknowledge the soldier's existence.

After the initial outburst Tony had been calm, lying on his side and looking at Steve with deep eyes that didn't seem like they belonged to Tony anymore.

The soldier had seen things similar to this in the war, but nothing exactly like it, and it scared the Brooklyn-born man.

"C-Cap?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah, it's me."

"I... I don't... 'M alive?"

"Yes, Tony, you're alive."

"But... I felt..." He coughed, rolling further over onto his stomach to smother the sound into the pillow. When Tony stopped, he looked back out at Steve.

"I felt everything. I felt..." Tony took a shaky breath. "I felt death."

Steve frowned, something cold running down his back. "What do you mean? Did you die?"

"No... No, everything else did. Everything around, the trees and animals. Ash and dirt. I felt it. I was in the moon and I _felt _it... And Loki..."

The iron man trailed off and his eyes slipped from Steve to the wall just above the captain's shoulder. Steve felt sick and shivery, like before the super-soldier serum had steeled the nerves of his body. He didn't want to believe that the person in front of him was Tony, the man who talked incessantly with articulation and accuracy now reduced to the man on the bed before him.

Tony closed his eyes a moment, a small crinkle appearing between his eyebrows before his eyelids fluttered back open. He was focused, now, and Steve saw in his eyes that the billionaire's mind had not been completely shattered and was, just, possibly, only stalling before he could articulate what he was trying to say.

"I felt him die." He said at last, eyes sharp and locked onto Steve's. "Loki is dead. I _felt him die_."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **So, it's come to my attention that Thanos may, in fact, be purple and not red. I've seen some versions of him which are blue, and he looked redish in the movie, so we'll just say he changes colour in different temperatures and move on.

Also, I can't seem to write violence, which is why I tried to avoid it with Tony's rescue. I apologize if the fight scene in this chapter seems forced, clunky or awkward, but believe me when I say it was much harder to write than it is to read.

Normally I write a few chapters ahead and post chapters as I complete others, but given the note I left the last chapter on I'm posting this when I'm only half through the one I'm currently writing. I figured two weeks is long enough to wait, so, Enjoy.

**Working Visa**

He followed Hulk, as if the green beast were some kind of tracking pet, but Thor worried for his brother. He knew first-hand the smashing power of Hulk, and he couldn't fathom how Kay could prevent Hulk from beating Loki when they found him.

The human was trailing behind casually, as if running was beneath him. Even if he sprinted he would still not be able to keep up with the super-human speed that Hulk achieved. Thor, however, was barely jogging in order to keep pace with the beast who seemed to be at his capacity for movement.

Kay could easily follow their trail without having to keep up, so the Asgardian and Gamma creature had bolted forward, heading towards a large crevice in the ice.

"Hulk. What are your intentions towards my brother?"

"HULK SMASH."

"Hulk, you must not smash my brother. He is... better. He's good now."

"HULK KNOW. ROBBERS TAKE PUNY GOD. HULK SMASH ROBBERS."

Thor looked back out at the ice they were moving across. "Thank you, Hulk. That means a lot to me."

"PUNY GOD FORGET AND HULK FORGIVE PUNY GOD."

"How did you know that, about Loki's memory?"

"ANGRY MAN-BRAIN KNOW; HULK KNOW."

Thor jogged in silence for a moment alongside the sprinting Hulk. The wide crack grew closer, and the Norse god didn't know whether they would be jumping over or climbing down it to another area. Hulk kept a steady pace, not slowing or speeding to give Thor an idea about their next action, he trusted Hulk to know where he was going.

The man turned beast seemed to be recognizing and following the scent of the trickster.

Although it was silly, it warmed Thor to know that Loki still smelt like himself.

They approached the chasm and Hulk didn't slow down. Even though Thor felt he was approaching at a slow enough pace, the Hulk probably wouldn't be able to slow his momentum down enough to navigate the gap if that were his intention.

Just when Thor through they might be jumping over the space instead of stopping before it, Hulk turned and slid himself down a gap in the snow. It was a set of stairs; however the bulk of Hulk broke the steps and turned them into a slide. It carved down through the ice and along the side of the cliff face.

Thor followed, wrapping his cape around himself and jumping after the green muscled mass.

Kay could figure out where they went on his own. Hulk was leaving an obvious enough trail that Thor didn't have to worry too much.

They ended up deposited in the entrance to a cavern, the entrance framed by a large arch carved from ice. It was, Thor supposed, beautiful. Although, that was not something he would associate with the Jotunn. He still had trouble picturing them beyond savages who wouldn't care if the entrance to their hold was aesthetically pleasing or not.

He had been working on his prejudices, for Loki's sake, but storming into their base where they were holding his brother hostage was probably not the best time to sort through his Jotunn-related issues.

The cavern was lit by glowing carvings in the walls, different symbols that clearly meant something but Thor didn't particularly notice. He kept moving after Hulk, the extended height of the entrance hallway let the large green frame through with ease. It was clearly a space built for the towering frames of the frost giants.

Thor could hear the deep rumbling vocals of the Jotunn further into the cave, and he let Mjolnir slide down in his grip, so that he held the end of the handle and could more easily swing should he need to.

"Wait," He hissed. "_Wait_."

Hulk stopped his strong pace and turned back to look at the god, growling deep in his throat at the dely.

"There are going to be many more of them than there are of us. One cannot simply storm in."

"HULK STRONGER THAN ICE-MEN."

"You can't know that for sure."

"HULK STRONGER THAN EVERYONE."

"Everyone _so far_."

Thor wouldn't have admitted that he was scared. His previous encounter with the Jotunn had not going well, and he did not wish a repeat performance in front of the race what had so easily mocked him, and a green beast who could easily flatten him. Of all the battles he had fought, his failure the last time he had stepped foot on Jotunheim had been the most humiliating and painful of all his losses.

... Except for the loss of his brother.

He swallowed. "I will go in first, and try to find passage to where they have taken Loki. You can... You can smash. Understood?"

Hulk smiled and stepped aside.

Stepping forward towards the closed door, Thor swallowed and tried not to hesitate as he proceeded around the corners to where he could hear the icy giants were gathered. No doubt they were guards, as the two Avengers had received no resistance so far. It unsettled Thor more than the thought of having to face then blue monsters again.

If it was a gaol, then there should be guards.

If it was a morgue, it would need none.

In the centre of the room was a large standing-table that rose to a comfortable height for some Jotunn, but others were forced to lean a hand or elbow upon the surface, stooping to make the height workable. Before the monsters noticed the presence of intruders, the Asgardian counted twelve enemies.

Several pairs of ruby eyes fell on Thor, and he brought his arm up and flung Mjolnir at an angle. It curved around the room, and while most Jotunn managed to dodge its wide arch, it got the attention of all but the two whose sudden collapse had called attention to the circling hammer.

Thor smirked at the glaring group, "Am I interrupting?"

One of the blue giants launched himself at the prince and he wielded the returned hammer to knock the assailant back.

It started an avalanche.

All the Frost Giants charged at him. Because of their immense height, Thor didn't get much of a chance to dodge or escape their grasp. They towered over him, and the bulk of their mass, their torsos, blocked his view and ducking around them would put him in a position vulnerable to their powerful fists.

He thrust Mjolnir at the blue kneecap in front of him, hearing the bone shatter at the contact.

One of the other's had swung to hit Thor, is fist coming downward and hitting Thor's collar bone. He snarled at the contact, the strong Asgardian bone feeling the blow through his armour but surviving. The knuckles, the god glanced, had been frozen over, intensifying the blow.

He placed the eye of Mjolnir on the back of the crippled Jotunn's neck and pushed down.

This time he wasn't able to hear the snap as he pushed his body weight down on the hammer, and consequently the Jotunn's neck, as propelled himself over the crumbled figure to leap out of the closing semi-circle of giants.

But he overshot, and as his feet settled back on the iced ground the back of his head hit the edge of the tall table and his vision blurred for a moment.

When his sight steadied himself, he was surprised to note that none of the monsters had spun around to take another blow, and instead a great green arm was sweeping itself across the group of Jotunns, knocking most of them around but not off their feet.

Hulk stormed through and picked up one of the figures lying on the ground, who had been the first to fall to Mjolnir, and swung the blue figure. He had to hold onto the bare feet with both hands, the living club was as long as Hulk was tall and flopped as the radiated beast kept the others at a distance.

It seemed that the standing Jotunn did not want to be hit by their flailed comrade, something which seemed to anger Hulk, who roared and threw the limp Jotunn at one of the others. The figure who was hit sailed through the air and became acquainted with the opposite wall, the thrown creature following him and turned them both into a large horizontal hole.

The iced walls cracked, and there were a crunching sound before several large stalactitical icicles plummeted from the ceiling.

Thor dodged around them as the Jotunns either tried to avoid the falling ice or attack Hulk, as they appeared to deem him the bigger threat for the moment.

It offended the Asgard prince, briefly, and he moved to establish himself as a warrior before he remembered that the distraction was the point, and his pride would have to be swallowed as he allowed Hulk to have the glory or battle.

There were two thin openings in the wall, and he slipped around the blue group and to the closest gap.

The Jotunn towered over him, but were slimmer built, and Thor had to turn to his side to fit his broad shoulders in the crevice and slip through to the top of a staircase. The opening would be too thin for the Hulk to pass through, and while Thor was strong and needed no aid in order to gain victory, it unnerved him that the creature would not be able to help should he run into more Jotunn.

He made his way down the staircase. It twisted its way through the cave, and Thor followed for a few moments before stopping on a step with a blank, dead-end wall in front of him.

Prince Thor looked back and upwards, embarrassed that he had picked the wrong hallway, but he didn't want to resurface and be launched back into the scuffle without investigating first. He knew Jotunn were stupid, but he didn't think that they would build a staircase to nowhere.

Pressing his hands against the wall, Thor noticed that it was stone, not ice. He could feel that there were strange cracks in the rock that he couldn't actually see. He traced them with his fingers as he felt the air and blood calm slightly from the altercation upstairs.

He felt around the wall until his fingers landed on a strange shape that seemed to poke out from the surface. It was roughly the size of the palm of his hand. He pushed down on it, earning him a strange ice-cracking noise, and for a second Thor worried that more icicles were going to fall.

But the rock wall in front of him split open.

It was a small room with a rectangular slab in the centre of the space. On top of the slab lay some bundled black material and Thor approached the raised section.

It was a black jacket and tie; the same ones Loki wore in his new life.

Thor grabbed them roughly, pulling at the material as he tried to see in the dim light whether the clothes were stained with blood. He couldn't see anything against the dark jacket, and he couldn't feel anything wet or dried hard of the fabric, but he didn't have high hopes.

He searched in the jacket pockets, and indeed found Agent El's MiB identification.

"Where are you, brother?" He breathed.

Tucking the ID under the plates of his armour, Thor replaced the jacket and tie before turning. He had planned to return up the stairs and make a dash to the other path, the urgency about finding his brother had multiplied in the presence of the abandoned clothing, but when he turned there was a figure standing at the bottom of the stairs.

There was a red man standing in the strange doorway. He wore a golden helmet and had a strange multi-dimpled chin.

The man smiled.

* * *

Hulk stepped on big blue men. They crushed into the ground and crunched. They made holes in the floor and didn't break.

Hulk liked crunching. He liked smashing better but crunching still good.

Hulk ran out of big blue men to step on. He went to look for the loud god. The small doorway was too small, so Hulk smashed it bigger. The stairway was small, but walls were too solid to smash. Hulk fit by walking sideways.

At the bottom there was a man in blue clothes and gold metal. The loud god was on the other side of the man and looked to Hulk, but Hulk didn't know the look on the loud god's face.

Hulk shrugged and Hulk smashed.

* * *

Thor watched as the radiated green beast raised both his fists and brought them down hard on top of the red beings head. There was a sickening crunching sound, one which, embarrassingly, caused Thor to flinch.

The prince had spoken with the stranger for only a moment before Hulk had showed up. He had learnt the man's name was Thanos, but had not been told the location of his brother or what had happened to him.

Thanos, it seemed to Thor, liked the sound of his own voice.

At least now, pounded into the ground, the arrogant red man had ceased talking. The blue and gold helmet had cracked and chipped under the pressure of Hulk's smash, but somehow Thor knew the foe had not died under the normally fatal blow. He must be more than flash and swagger to have successfully captured and contained Loki. Hulk's fists had landed heavily, and despite the survival of the recipient it had been a respectable blow.

Thanos was, at least, unconscious.

Although Thor was glad for the violence, he did take issue with the timing.

"Hulk, we needed him. We needed him to tell us where Loki is." He said slowly, not wanting the hulking beast to misunderstand, "You should have waited."

"HULK FIND PUNY GOD."

Thor took a deep breath.

"If you're sure."

"HULK FIND PUNY GOD! OR _HULK SMASH_!"

"Okay," He held up his hands, "okay."

Hulk smiled and turned back towards the staircase. Thor didn't like that the creature expected him to follow, he was a prince and not comfortable taking orders from others, but he did as the green mass demanded and he ascended the staircase.

The first room was filled with slowly moving Jotunn. Some were alive, lying in dark blood or unconscious and breathing heavily, but some had not survived the encounter with the anger-being. Thor was very thankful that Hulk was on his side.

The other, unexplored path was opposite where the two avengers had just exited. The entrance to the other staircase was wider than the previous as the way to the prison had been made small to downplay its significance. Despite Thor being able to fit through the second staircase, Hulk drew his fist back into order to break open the path.

"Wait!" Thor held up a commanding hand.

He could see through the archway to the ascending staircase and the pair of shiny shoes that were coming down from above before a pair of knees and a pair of bare heels. Agent Kay descended from the rooms above with Loki wrapped in the clothes Doctor Banner had entrusted to the agent, fitting in width but not height as Loki was half a foot taller than the scientist.

The prince's brain stalled, his attention focused on the unconscious body of his brother. He gaped, and tried to see any available skin and assess for damage.

Then Thor realized that he was staring at the two MiB employees, one of which was looking to him for some form of response. "You caught up quickly." He decided to say.

"I'm faster than I look, Scooter."

Gritting his teeth at the casual tone, Thor nodded and watched as the human passed Loki over to Hulk, who carried the limp frame over his arm and against his chest, like one would a kitten or bath-towel. He wanted to reach out and put a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder, but it was clear that the other two were taking care of things and his intervention was not needed.

"He's alive." The Agent Kay said softly, "He came to long enough to change back into Asgardian form so I could carry him. He's going to be alright, son."

Thor nodded, before looking from the agent to his fellow Avenger. "Hulk, I beg of you, be careful with him."

The green beast smiled and used his free hand to give Thor a surprisingly light pat on the head.

"HULK WILL."


	17. Chapter 17

After so many hard chapters I shouldn't be so suspicious that this one came so easy, but I am.  
Also, I'm back at school and have taken a second job, but I am going to spend every free moment writing, so hopefully there won't be too many delays, but if there are you know why.

**Working Visa**

It was not the first time that Kay had sat by an injured colleague not knowing if they would survive. It was, however, his first experience sitting beside someone he cared for more than he should allow himself too.

Kay had found Loki in a small, triangular room. The Jotunn agent hadn't looked alive at first, and Kay had placed a hand on the blue skin, which earned him cold-seared flesh but the elation and relief of finding a strong pulse.

It was bandaged now. There hadn't been any other external damage to the young god, but there was some internal trauma that didn't have any apparent cause but were healing themselves nicely.

Kay's body was suffering some after-effects of the internal-external temperature combater. He was sweating and shivering, but had refused to retire to the room and bed down the hall which had been given to him. The chair beside Loki was more than comfortable enough for him to rest in.

The room he had found Loki in had been odd. There had been a strange symbol carved into the roof, the moonlight shining down to create a strange symbol on the centre of his chest, circled, like his very own Stark arc reactor.

He was glad he'd had the foresight to contact Odin All-father before making the trek to Jotunheim as the sanctuary of Asgard was a nice place to recuperate. It had been very gracious of King Odin to transport them from the ice planet, while Kay had no doubt that the Rutelalians would return Jay to Earth safely, he had not entirely trusted the sight of Heimdall to pull the four of them off Jotunheim in time.

Kay reached up and brushed a strand of dark hair from the godling's forehead with a shaking hand.

"You should be resting, Agent."

For a moment, Kay didn't turn to look at Odin.

"I _am_ resting."

"You're worrying."

"As are you." Kay looked up at the lines on the All-father's face. "How are the others?"

Odin stepped further into the room. "Thor is with his mother, he acts confident that Loki shall recover but is weary. Your Doctor Banner has not yet woken, but the healers say that there is no damage."

"What else?"

Odin closed his eye, and when the brief moment was over he opened it to look at the still figure on the bed.

"His magic has not yet returned, and there is evidence in his body that he died at their hands."

His sweating hands shaking from more than just the acclimation and balled into fists at the thought of what they must have done to Loki, and what they had planned on doing after they had revived him.

"Do we know who they were?" he asked, surprised that he was able to match the collected tones of the god-king.

"Heimdall says that they are a small sect, some are from the royal house but most are the last survivors of families who were destroyed. I believe they speak for the Jotunn minority. Their new king and I have been in contact since the destruction of the Bifrost and I do not believe he was aware of Thanos or the kidnapping."

Kay nodded. It was understandable that Odin, as a king, would be concerned with the governmental issues surrounding the incident. Since he was a MiB agent he probably should have been concerned with the Earth-Jotunheim treaty, and whether he had violated any part of it by storming across the ice fields, but he found he didn't have the space to care about that just yet.

A deep shiver ran through his body as he looked back to Loki. The tremors were easing, and he suspected there were a few more hours before his body returned to normal.

A moment later a golden goblet appeared at his side.

"This will help."

Kay accepted the goblet from the king and bowed his head in gratitude to the Asgardian leader.

"I have wanted to thank you."

The Agent startled, looking up into the gaze of the older, wiser being. Odin had a sad smile lining the corners of his mouth and he looked away so that he could settle himself in the chair on the opposite side of Loki's bed.

Kay felt a slight twitch of jealousy at the lack of old-man noise that came from the centuries old All-father as he sat.

The All-god didn't move for a moment, his attention focused on Loki while he collected his thoughts and Kay waited patiently in the other chair, sipping the spiced drink which seemed to both cool and warm him in a way his body sorely needed.

"You are to him what I could never be." Odin's voice rumbled, "You have helped him, and I thank you for it."

"I should be the one thanking you. If you hadn't have contacted us he would never have come under our protection."

Odin nodded. "Our laws would have dictated his execution. I..." his eyes flickered from the body to Kay then back, and if it were anyone else then the agent would have said that the man looked ashamed. "I will never be strong enough to watch a son die. You saved me from that fate."

It was an admission that Kay would not have expected from the proud leader, but one that he found kinship with.

The human rose. "I think I'll get some of that rest you were talking about. Room's just down the hall, right?"

"Second on the left." Odin replied, his voice distant and his eyes still on Loki.

"Thanks."

* * *

Bruce had woken in an ornate room with gold carvings on the walls and red material draped across the bed. A glance at the various clothes strewn around the room told him that the room had once been occupied by Thor. Even in Stark's Tower, The god-prince had the bedroom organization of a lazy teenager.

Once he had risen from the bed and shook off the fogginess of the transformation, he had gone to the window and looked out in awe.

He stared at the multiple planets in the sky as he noticed the different stars and felt the stronger gravitational pull of the planet. The building he was in looked down on the rest of the city, which shone unnaturally and spectacularly bright.

He decided that he must be on Asgard

When he had been on the run, Bruce had seen many cities all over the earth; big and popular, like London, where it was easy to disappear in the masses, and small, near forgotten slum like the one S.H.I.E.L.D had picked him up in. None of them had come as close to being as _clean_ as this one.

Looking down on the surrounding building, Bruce couldn't see one smashed window or scribble of graffiti.

It made him wonder what Thor must think humanity after coming from a place like this.

Although, it did shed some light on the actions of Loki; to come apart in such a utopia, and then see people as chaotic and damaged as humanity, it was no wonder the he'd thought they needed ruling.

His clothes had not been among the many scattered around the room, but there was what appeared to be an animal hide dressing gown hanging on a hook which Bruce tied around himself. The sleaves were too long, and it dragged on the ground, but it was surprisingly light for the warmth it provided.

He had padded in bare feet through the marble halls, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible when the god-people walked near him even though he could have used help in finding his way around. The hallways were mostly open, with beautiful tapestries which helped him to keep track of where he was going.

That didn't particularly help him know where he wanted to go.

Bruce wandered the floors, staying close to the windows as he didn't want to lose sight of the magnificent view. It calmed him, and he didn't want to take any risks in a new place where there were so many powerful, superior beings around. He didn't want to embarrass himself or his race by losing control.

He strolled around the building for a good hour and a half before a beautiful, sweet spiced smell drifted across the air and Bruce's nose led him down a few steps and into a large dining area.

The table was laid out for several dozen places, but Thor was the only one seated at the table, dunking large cuts of meat into a steaming bowl, which seemed to be producing the intoxicating scent. He was quiet and looked tired, but there was a relaxed slump to his shoulders that told Bruce that they had been successful in finding Loki alive.

The prince glanced up, a large grin spreading across his masticating face when he saw the doctor in the doorway.

"Doctor Banner, you have woken."

"Yeah," he padded closer, "Thank you for letting me use your room. I... err... borrowed your robe."

"It suits you." Thor beamed honestly.

Bruce chuckled and scrubbed a hand through his curls. "I doubt it, but thanks." He pulled his glasses off. "Did everything go okay? Did anyone get hurt?"

"You only hurt those we intended. Loki is safe; Hulk didn't hurt him or the agent Kay."

Nodding, Bruce lowered himself into a chair near Thor's position. He pointed at the food and received a nod of permission from the prince before picking up what looked like a starfish shaped Rambutan core.

He hesitated "I-Is this meat or fruit?"

"It is a root." Thor placed a small bowl of what looked like mint jelly, but smelled like lavender, in front of the doctor "Eat it with this and you will enjoy it."

They ate silently for a moment, Bruce tentatively enjoying the selection of familiar and unfamiliar foods.

"You should not underestimate him."

Bruce looked up, confused.

"Your other self." Thor elaborated. "He is smarter and more aware than you give him credit for. I agree with the man of iron; he is not your enemy."

"He's not my friend either. And he hit you once, remember, for no reason."

"I believe that it was as the lady Natasha will punch the man with hawk-eyes when she makes a joke at his expense. It was not meant in malice." He slid a bowl of grains across the table towards Bruce. "You should not fear him so. He is already our ally, why is he not yours?"

Bruce chewed thoughtfully. "I suppose there's just too much bad blood between us."

"Like there was between Loki and I. Perhaps you should do as my brother and forget past indiscretions and build a new bond of trust."

"Yeah," he humoured, "maybe."

* * *

Stark had been deemed well enough to travel back to Earth through the portal. All the recovering he had left to do was mental and the Rutelalian healers felt that being on a familiar planet would be the best place.

Since returning to Earth, Jay had been unable to sit still. While Stark was beginning to pull himself together, the revelation that Loki was dead, and that Stark had felt the god's death, made him feel sick to his stomach and set every part of his body on edge.

After talking to Rogers, Stark had had time to gather his thoughts and coherency enough to explain to everyone exactly what had happened. A device had been placed on his arc reactor, which had somehow changed his biological and brain patterns to match Loki's on Jotunheim.

There had been some details about the pain that had ripped through his body, unrelated to Loki but most probably due to his body adjusting to the effect of the device. But he had explained the power of having an immortal life and strength flow through him, and the strange elation at having another mind in his.

And then the agony and tactile loneliness of having it ripped away.

Of feeling Loki's life being ripped away.

Jay had felt his heart sink, and it had stayed sunk.

He didn't trust himself to drive home, so he'd sat at on Stark's couch and stared at an extremely large plasma screen, one that he didn't even seem to register.

Part of him wanted to cry. A much larger part wouldn't let him.

The agent didn't take notice of how much time had passed while he sat and the returned Avengers moved in and out of the room. He was worrying about how Kay would react when he found Loki's body, after all the effort they were going through on Jotunheim to find him, when his MiB communicator buzzed in his pants pocket.

"Jay." he answered mechanically.

"Stark's in one piece?"

The younger agent blinked at Zed's voice. "Yeah, he's here."

"Thank god for that. We didn't need S.H.I.E.L.D on our case as well." Here Agent Zed muttered something low and derogatory about Fury. "Did they get around to torturing him?"

Jay mouthed silently before being able to form words. "Sir, they had some sort of device. They... They killed Loki. They tortured Stark by killing Loki."

"Yeah," Zed casually threw out, "We know. Got it from their inside man. Didn't work though; The Jotunns just sent word that Loki's alive and on Asgard. I'm surprised they didn't off Stark when it fell through."

"Fell... But Loki's dead. Stark felt him die."

"Well, maybe he didn't stay dead, kid." Zed's tone softened, "Or they lied to him. He's alive, Jay, so leave it to Kay. We need you to head over to S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters and smooth things over with Fury. They've just lost an agent and you're a bit touchy over us handling their intruder."

Jay looked out the window at the New York skyline, slightly less full since the Manhattan battle but no less beautiful.

"No problem, sir." He moved the phone away from his head, about to turn it off, before he rushed it back to his ear, "Hey, Zed, you're sure Loki's alive, right, Kay didn't just tell you to tell me he was okay?"

There was a sigh. "Yes Agent. I'm sure. Loki's fine."


	18. Chapter 18

**Working Visa  
**

The Asgardian healing room was a place that Odin was very familiar with. Although it had been many years since he had been caught in battle, he had returned to the halls of healing many times to be by the side of one of his sons when they were injured or ill.

When he had been young, a new babe to Asgard, Loki'd had some trouble adjusting. He had frequently fallen ill due to the unfamiliar foods as well as being recently bound into Asgardian form, and Odin had taken turns with his wife to sit vigilant at the side of their adopted son's crib.

He knew, as he sat beside his grown son, that Loki was going to be okay just as he knew when he had been sitting besides the healing-crib a lifetime ago.

The all-father placed a hand on top of Loki's. He could feel the strong pulse in the too-thin wrists.

Loki would be fine.

Odin placed his other hand on the pale forehead.

_My son _will_ be fine_.

There was a soft noise, a small gasping inhale, and green eyes fluttered open.

* * *

Tony wasn't doing anything particular in his workshop. He hated hospitals on any planet, and was very happy to be somewhere familiar with something for his hands to work on so that they didn't shake so badly. He couldn't focus his mind on any big projects, he didn't trust himself not to ruin something that he had already spent weeks on, but he was happy enough twisting wires together and replacing some of the circuits in Dummy.

What was relaxing him the most, however, was that there were no living things inside; no plants, animals or people. Not even yeast.

After feeling so much death, Tony didn't feel comfortable being around people. It seemed like they shouldn't exist; as if Tony had felt them die alongside Loki and the landscape.

It wasn't all that different to how he'd felt when he'd been sitting and eating shawarma after the Manhattan battle. There had been something in the air, with no one speaking, that had made Tony feel as if he had died. His life had always been noisy and full of action, even when he had been slowly dying, that he couldn't connect to the small moment of calm quiet.

Feeling death had been bright and chaotic on a level that Tony's mind couldn't have comprehended. He suspected that it was because of Loki's Asgardian life-force that had made it all the more intense for his human mind.

Then there had been nothing; and waking to people who were breathing and talking to him in actual _living_ voices hadn't seemed real.

His robots and circuit-boards seemed more alive to Tony than the people who were walking around upstairs.

He'd always been more comfortable around machines anyway.

Even Dummy's face, the two screws and three claw grips, looked more human than Agent Jay's face had when he woken up in the hospital bed.

Or maybe that was the scotch.

Yeah, probably the scotch.

Not that he'd had much compared to what he usually drank, but it was affecting him much quicker than usual.

So he took another swig.

"Tony?"

"What'd you want, Cap?"

The billionaire could hear the defrosted soldier invading his workshop. Even the booted footsteps sounded sickly earnest and concerned, and it made Tony cringe. He didn't want someone coming into his space to slobber sympathy all over him.

"Clint's made us dinner. It smells great."

"So he can cook; good for him."

"You don't want any?"

"I'm set." He picked up the half-bottle and shook it, not taking his eyes off the electronics in front of him.

"I... err... I don't think that classes as a meal."

"It cost more than most meals."

Tony felt the frown on the back of his head, but he ignored it to continue working. He knew he should probably eat something to absorb the alcohol... and the thought made him smile. It was nice to know he still had Pepper's disapproving voice in his mind.

His body froze and something in him twisted.

_Pepper_.

Dropping the tools, Tony clasped a hand over his mouth and heaved himself towards the bathroom.

* * *

The servers had presented Loki with a bowl of boiled fruit and some watered mead. Thor had sat, cross legged, at the end of the bed and watched his brother eat the sustenance with a stunted speed that made the older prince want to tear the bowl out of Loki's hands and tip the contents down in one mouthful.

"Do you not enjoy the fruits, brother?"

"They are fine." Loki said lowly.

"Then what ails you?"

"I am simply thinking, Thor. Do not trouble yourself to understand the concept."

Thor found himself blinking at the comment, but it had been spoken in fatigue, not anger, and so the older brother decided not to read anything into the recovering god's words. So far Loki hadn't made any comment on what he had gone through, and while Thor was trying not to assume the worst, he was no so naive as to think Loki would come out of it the same as he went in.

"If you would like more, or a different selection of fruit I would be happy to retrieve it for you."

Loki's green eyes flashed for a moment. Thor could understand if his brother wanted some time to himself; Odin, Kay and the nurses had been hovering around him since he had woke.

Then the eyes returned to the bowl of fruit for a moment and looked back up to meet the concerned blue gaze with a much softer light.

"That's not necessary. You can stay if you desire."

Thor nodded and eyed the remaining fruit.

"May I ask you something?" Loki requested.

There was something dark and inquisitive in his eyes, but Thor agreed.

"When Thanos was taunting me, he said that I'd done things. That I'd betrayed my family and slaughtered my own people."

Although Thor did not hear a question, he knew what the other god was asking. He did not wish for his brother to know about his past deeds, and he felt quite certain that Kay, as Loki's new guide and friend, would not approve of telling the amnesiac the truth. It would be easy to tell him that Thanos had merely been taunting Loki with lies, trying to use his cleared memory against him.

"You have made mistakes," he decided to say, "which have cost the lives of many Frost Giants. However, you were... misguided, and believed at the time that it was your only path. The blame lies as much on me and... and our father, as it did on you, and you must not take his words close to heart. Many have forgiven you, and you have clearly forgiven yourself by allowing yourself such a second chance.

"You must not fret, brother," Thor continued, "for your past actions have never hindered my trust in your mind, or belief in your heart."

Loki frowned. "So it's true?"

"Though unfortunate, it is indeed."

"Then how can you forgive such a thing?"

"You were driven to grief. And you are my brother, so you have always warranted my forgiveness even before you chose your new path with the Men of Black."

"I don't understand... but..." Loki looked down at his covers and fiddled with the fingernail of his left hand, an old habit he had outgrown centuries ago, "but I thank you, Thor. I appreciate it."

Although Loki sounded surprised and uneasy at his words, Thor beamed and stole a slice of fruit for his own.

* * *

"I don't give a damn! This concerns one of our agents, _my_ agents. You had no right to come into our headquarters and you had no right to take one of them."

"Look, she wasn't your agent anymore. She was a class seven-theta shapeshifter. _Not_ your jurisdiction."

"Like hell! My agent; my jurisdiction."

"She _wasn't your agent_! She was an alien."

"An alien who killed Agent Hill. This should have been handled by us, and we should have been informed as soon as you knew."

"We didn't know for sure she was a Chitauri until we had our men inside."

"You knew there was a possibility."

"You didn't even realize Stark was missing!"

"_You_ try keeping track of Tony Stark, see how well you do."

"We did. We tracked him aaall the way to another planet, which S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn't have been able to do, so we would have had to come and save your sorry butts anyway."

"... That's not the damn point!"

* * *

Kay didn't like hesitating. He'd worked at MiB since he was as young as Jay; even younger, maybe, but he could barely remember ever being that green. He'd been around long enough to know what he wanted and how to execute things.

He had been informed by one of the palace messengers that Loki had woke. Odin had been present at the time, but had gone to fetch Thor himself as soon as the green eyes opened rather than sending one of the servers and remaining by the young god's side.

The experienced agent didn't quite know where he wanted to go. Part of him, a paternal instinct he did his best to ignore but could never dismiss completely, wanted to go to Loki's side immediately and see that he was all right for himself. However, he knew that, diplomatically, he should sort out some more political details with Odin now that their minds were not so focused on their shared son.

He didn't want to risk an international incident with the Jotunn, and while Asgard and the ice realm had not had the most stable history, Kay knew that Odin and the new Jotunn king were already developing a mutual respect for each other. The Men in Black organization had made their treaties with Laufey, and there had been no reassurance that the agreements still held through the changing royalties.

Walking through the main halls, Kay headed towards Odin's personal sitting rooms. The agent thought that perhaps the god-king had wanted some time alone, as he had left Loki so suddenly, but he knew that with the patient's recovery that the three would be returning to Earth soon and so he may not get another chance.

Kay pulled down on the silk rope that hung outside the king's chambers. He could not hear the soft bell through the ceiling high, solid gold doors but he was confident that Odin had heard it, and it took only a moment for the large entrance to swing open inwards, seemingly on its own accord.

The roof ran higher than any Kay had seen, but the furnishings were oddly simple and not at all like the decadence of the rest of the palace.

Odin was standing in the middle of the room, dressed in a shining bronze tunic and looking more casual than any Asgardian had any right to look.

"Agent Kay. I believe you have heard that Loki's condition has improved."

"Yes, I did." He took a few steps further into the room, and sunk into the chair that Odin offered him. It looked like white and grey marble, but was leather softer than butter. "I haven't gone to see him yet, but heard you were there when he woke."

"I was." Odin said shortly, clearly not wanting to articulate further.

Kay didn't push it, and decided to go straight to the point. "Have you been in contact with King Eimgeitir regarding the situation?"

"He has looked into it. The few Jotunn who survived the green knight's assault have been imprisoned. By the laws of their realm they will be put to death, however, the king has offered to defer the traitors to your justice system if you have any moral opposition to their sentencing."

"No."

Odin nodded in approval.

"Do you think that Eimgeitir will honour Laufey's rule."

"I do not think he means to blame Midgard, or your guild, if that is what concerns you." He kept his wise eye on Agent Kay, assessing his reactions in a way beyond what the agent had been trained for. "I consulted with the Jotunn council before I asked for the mercy of your people in regards to Loki's punishment. They agreed to place his fate in your care before I contacted the agent Zed with my request. They harbour no ill will towards him"

Kay nodded and tried to not appear too relieved that he was not going to lose Loki so soon after he was safe again. He sunk back into the chair, the worry lifting and allowing him to relax even under the sharp gaze of the god-king.

"You acted," Odin said softly, "with a disregard for your people. You knew there was a chance that Jotunheim could turn on Midgard for your trespass. If King Eimgeitir had been responsible for Loki's capture, and had demanded retribution, would you have sacrificed Loki to rectify the problem?"

Agent Kay didn't blink before giving his answer. "No. Loki belongs to us."

Odin nodded, and he softened into his chair just as Kay had done moments before. However, there was something sad around the lines of his eyes, a loss, perhaps, that had only just registered. "That is what I had hoped. You must reassure my son of that, Agent Kay, before he chooses to return with you."

Kay frowned, not quite sure he understood what the older man meant.

So he asked.

"You are aware," Odin answered, "that I did not speak with Loki after he woke." It was not a question, and the king seemed unsurprised that the agent knew of his behaviour. "I saw something in his eyes that I did not expect to see, that I thought I would never see again.

"I feel that Loki recognized me."


	19. Chapter 19

**Working Visa**

"Tony?"

The billionaire was lounging on his large couch in the sixth living area. The doors that opened out to the restored balcony let a cold chill into the room, but the central holographic fire-pit had yet to be turned on.

Pepper had been worrying since she'd heard that Tony had been kidnapped, but hadn't had much time to check up on him. In the ironman's absence she had stepped in as the temporary CEO of Stark Industries.

After Obadiah and Afghanistan, Pepper knew she was the only one he trusted to man the company while he was unavailable. Since she had handed it back over to him before, they were fairly solid in knowing that she would not hold onto the responsibility a second longer than she absolutely had to, so and several contracts had been drawn up to ensure no one else could seize power

She had dealt with kidnapping situations before, but not one on this kind of scale. The Stark Industries board had all made preparations and decisions as if Tony had already died, and it was only through Pepper's stubbornness and constant snapping at the executives that they didn't write him off completely.

The ex-assistant knew that this time, Tony had friends; friends who would protect and search for him.

This time, she wasn't the only person who cared for Tony's life.

As Pepper entered the room, Tony turned and looked around the back of the couch. Although he looked relatively unharmed, Pepper almost gasped at the odd look that shadowed the normally handsome features. It passed quickly and he vaulted over and off the couch, a familiarly excited move, but stopped short of actually moving towards her.

He, instead, pushed his hands into his pockets and looked almost shy, which was quite possibly the weirdest thing about the whole image.

"Hey, Pep." He tried to say casually.

Pepper tried to convince herself she had imagined the strangled undertone.

"Tony, are you okay?" she took a few steps forward, aware she was treating him like a dangerous animal or child, but not knowing how else to behave, "Your phone message scared me a little."

"Yeah, sorry. I'd been, you know, drinking. Didn't mean to make you worried, I just hadn't seen you since I'd gotten back and I wanted to..." he pulled a hand out of his pocket to gesture, as if trying to find the words before deflating slightly, "... see you... I wanted to see you."

She smiled slightly and walked forward, still trying to keep as casually as possible as to not scare Tony off.

"Well I'm here, and I'm pretty sure you can see me, Tony. So... Do I get a hug or anything?"

"There's no need to be needy, Pep."

He approached and wrapped his arms around her. She was surprised to find him still solid and still smelling exactly as she remembered him too.

She hadn't realized how tense she had been until she felt herself relax in Tony's embrace, but it only lasted until the billionaire's form also softened, and brought them both down into the floor.

"Tony, wha-"

"Shhhh," He whispered, burying his face in the crook of her neck, "Let's just sit on the floor for a while, okay? We're alive and on the floor."

Tony squeezed her tighter, and Pepper ran a hand through his dark hair before placing a kiss on top of it.

"Yes, Tony, we're alive."

* * *

Bruce was getting ready to leave Asgard. Somehow, even with all his flaws and... _flaw_ he felt relaxed in the alien land. He was small, insignificant and no one gave him a second glace. Even thought they knew about his green problem, they only showed a respect for his hidden strength, never fear.

King Odin, so strong and clear visioned, a man whom Thor and Loki were so desperate to impress, had even praised his control and determination of will.

He was accepted here, in a way he never could be on Earth.

But, contrarily, he also felt out of place. Its glistening perfection was highly intimidating, especially when he had spent most of his life in some of the most deficient slums and streets while being on the run. With the exception of maybe Loki, there didn't seem to be any insecure Asgardians; they all glowed and strutted with the same perfection as the city they were bred in.

They may have accepted Hulk, but they wouldn't accept him as Bruce.

He was starting to realize how Loki could have rebelled against something which seemed so faultless.

Bruce adjusted the sleeves of his teal shirt. It had been hand-washed, as Asgard seemed to lack the technology to build a washing machine, and it had come out softer than a cotton blend shirt had any right to be. It smelled_ fantastic_!

Although the scientist doubted that Thor did his own laundry, he would ask the prince later what they used. He'd like to try and recreate it in his lab.

Agent Kay came down the hallway, and Bruce noted with a little interest that he had the private escort of Odin himself. Bruce felt nervous about being in the presence of the King god. However, the two bowed to each other and parted ways before they reached the scientist at the end of the hallway.

Odin looked to Bruce and game him a respectful nod, which was fumblingly returned.

"Doctor Banner." Kay greeted "Did you enjoy your stay?"

"I did; it's a remarkable culture. I would've liked to see more outside the palace." He answered honestly.

"It's not too bad for your first off-earth experience." He looked around at the shining walls, "there are definitely worse planets. Thor might let you to come back with him when he visits, I'm sure King Odin wouldn't be opposed; he seems to like you."

"I'd be honoured if he let me back."

"He will."

Bruce noticed the two brothers coming down the hallway behind Agent Kay. Odin, however, had now made sure he was nowhere to be seen, even though there were no side doors off the hallway and there hadn't been enough time to reach the end.

Agent Kay smiled widely and greeted Loki with a warm familiarity that Bruce hadn't yet seen in the older man. He seemed to transform from an older, harsher version of Agent Coulson into a warm uncle looking on his favourite nephew who had just brought home an A+ report card.

"Loki, are you feeling better?"

"Much, thank you."

Thor bypassed the two Men in Black agents, casting a grateful, but slightly put out, glance at the elder, and turned to give Bruce a welcoming smile.

"Are you ready to leave, friend?"

"As I'll ever be, I suppose... I miss my lab."

"Then you shall be reunited with your lab soon." He clasped Bruce on the shoulder, "Heimdall has promised us a smoother ride than our journey through the portal to Jotunheim."

"Oh" Bruce said, remembering how nauseous the first ride had made him. "good."

"Are we ready to return?"

Bruce looked over at the younger god, his silky voice echoing off the bright walls. He looked relaxed, but his gaze kept sliding over to Thor with a contemplative shadow, like he was waiting for the blond to prove him wrong about something. It was the same look many people had around Bruce when he told them he had his green problem under control. They were waiting for Bruce to prove himself wrong.

"H-Hi," He offered his hand to Loki, as he realized that they hadn't been introduced after he'd had his memory erased, "I'm Doctor Bruce Banner. We met before but I guess you don't remember me."

Locking his eyes onto the scientist, Loki raised an eyebrow, "Were we friends?" he asked while he tentatively grasped and shook the doctor's hand.

"Not really, no." Their arms dropped, "We didn't actually know each other all that well. Only through Thor." He smiled uncertainly, marvelling at how different Loki was without his bitterness, "Maybe we can be friends this time around."

Loki tilted his head, something strange in his eyes as he assessed Bruce. "Yes." He said, oddly, but not insincerely, "Maybe we can."

* * *

Jay stared at the glass of alcohol which had been placed in his grip. Technically, he was on MiB time and couldn't drink, and while that didn't always stop him, he didn't want, at that moment, to be in any position of weakness.

On the other couch, across the low glass table, Fury seemed to have no moral dilemma emptying the re-filled glass, even though he was also on the clock and the two were sitting in his S.H.I.E.L.D office.

"Do we need to go through it again?"

"Nope." Jay responded, looking at the document on the surface between them. "I definitely do not want to read it again, but the Avengers will have to, and Loki should too."

"Well, that's up to you, but if they're not happy with it then that's your damn problem because I'm not giving you any more slack."

* * *

As Clint and Natasha were the only two Avengers who doubled as S.H.I.E.L.D agents, they were to meet Agent Kay, Loki, Bruce and Thor in the desert of New Mexico.

Although the Tesseract, under King Odin's control, could have set the four travellers down anywhere, it was agreed that the previous Bifrost site was the least destructive place to have an intergalactic pathway.

Clint didn't like the desert. Sure, it gave him an easy shot, but it also made him an easy target when standing in the middle of the sand waiting for some god-realm to get their act together.

He took another swig from his water and looked over at Natasha, who had turned her head up sharply, even though Clint hadn't noticed anything that would have caught her attention. He trusted her instincts, and, although Clint was sure it was just their associates returning, he rested his hand on the hilt of his gun.

It wasn't his preferred weapon, but it would get the job done.

There was a large crack, and the swirling black pit of blue lightning opened up about half a mile above their heads in the sky. Clint knew Thor, Hulk and Loki could survive a fall from that height, but Bruce and Agent Kay couldn't.

"Nat."

"It's okay, Clint. It's coming down."

Sure enough, the doorway in space was slowly lowering. Clint felt his heartbeat stabilize as it moved closer to him, but the sick churning fit in his stomach didn't ease. The last two times he had come face to portal with the tesseract nothing good had come out of it.

He drew the gun out of its holster, its shape too heavy in his hand to be as comforting as his bow and arrow.

At the red of Thor's cape Clint relaxed his grip slightly, but noticed with some pride that Natasha's grip and sight stayed unrelentingly true.

The four people returning to Earth came through once blue vortex had stopped to hover three feet from the ground. Everyone landed gracefully except for Bruce, who stumbled and tipped forward but managed to not fall face-first into the sand.

He lowered his gun.

Natasha didn't.

With shape-shifters now being a possibility, he didn't blame her, but was glad that they'd slipped into their familiar good-spy, bad-spy routine.

"Hey, guys. Welcome back."

"Hi." Bruce said quietly, his eyes on Clint but obviously very aware of the gun trained on them. "How's Tony?"

"He's... weird. Not really back to himself yet, but Steve has hope."

"Jay said Stark had a vision," Kay said, "of Loki's death."

"Kinda. I mean," Clint gestured to the very alive god, who had raised a delicate, dark eyebrow. "Tony believed it, at least."

"He's been told Loki's alive though?"

"He felt it too strongly to believe the truth," Natasha weighed in, finally dropping her gun's sight, but not relaxing the hand which held it, "not fully, anyway."

Clint glanced over to her, and noticed a strange look on her face. It was an assessing look, one which he had seen on missions when Natasha hadn't been sure if her cover was secure, or whether the mark was just playing her. Her green eyes were fixed on Loki's, but the dark-haired god didn't hold her gaze.

Loki seemed to be watching Agent Kay and Thor closely, searching for something, but didn't seem to be acknowledging Natasha or Clint.

Clint wasn't sure how he felt about Loki's memory loss. It would be easier for him to shoot the god in the eye when Loki didn't know to shield himself, but it wasn't good sport. He'd been worried about how Natasha had taken the news of Loki's memory, and hadn't stopped to consider how, exactly, he felt about the situation.

The previously mind-controlled agent knew that with Loki's second chance, he had lost his, and decided that he might not be okay with that.

So he took a step forward and punched Loki in the face.


	20. Chapter 20

There's a lot of rumination in this chap, the reason being that as this story was intended as a one-shot (ha!) the first chapter had a lot of Loki's motivations implied rather than explained, just for the sake of tone. Then, since he did have a memory of his motivations, they couldn't really be explained.

I felt there needed to be some form of internal dialogue about it from Loki, but I wasn't completely sure if I hit what I was trying to say on the head. It's definitely an important and elaborate revelation on Loki's part, and I just tried to piece it together as best I could. If it's unclear, or perhaps untrue to how you think Loki would internalize the situation, just let me know, but there will be more in the next chap.

Also!  
I have the rest of this story written, only a few chapters after this one and we're done. This means that I can post the rest on a regular schedule instead of at the same pace as the chapters are being written.  
So my question is, How often do you want the rest of them posted? Every week? Every two weeks? All at once?

**Working Visa**

"You're a moron" Natasha scolded, keeping any hint of condemnation or approval out of her voice. She had finished wrapping Clint's hand in an elastic bandage, and had made sure it wouldn't move before gently placing an icepack on top of his knuckles.

"You wanted to do it too. I could see it."

"No. I wanted to shoot him. Only a moron punches a god."

Clint shrugged and reached to spread his arm over the back of the couch, keeping his hand elevated. "Maybe. Agent Kay was quick to keep Thor off me though, so that was cool."

"I would have just let him go."

"Nuh, you like me too much to be pummelled by a hammer."

She stood "Keep telling yourself that. I'm going to go order pizza."

* * *

Loki had almost convinced himself that he was perpetrating a cunning ploy. He had remembered his entire life as it had once been, as well as his time at the MiB after his memory's rebirth. To justify keeping his revised recollection to himself, Loki was determined to believe that he was biding his time for strategic purposes.

It pained him to think how vulnerable he had left himself. When he'd regained consciousness after the memory wipe, the fear and uncertainty had made his stomach churn.

However, as much as he now berated himself for the hasty decision, he was still that same man who had made it in the first place.

He had seen no hope; only the reflection of a failed son and god who stared back at him in the prison's glass.

Since he'd recuperated, he had avoided mirrors, scared that even with all he'd done he'd still see the same man.

But he felt better. Part of him wanted to approach Kay and ask him to neuralyze him once again. As horrible as the experience had been, there was a freedom he had never felt before, where nothing was expected of him. No prince-hood, no army leader, no perfect son or brother.

All he had to be was an Agent, and that was fine.

Still, as long as he kept his memories to himself, he might be okay.

"Midgardian tradition dictates I pay the sum of one penny so that you may speak what resides on your mind, brother."

Loki blinked. Although the words had been spoken in ignorance, Loki knew his brother was not stupid. As Thor wasn't actually presenting him with said money was a good sign that he was, at least partially, trying to lighten the mood with his turn of phrase.

Loki was glad, however, that he managed not to flinch at the address.

"I fear I have too much on my mind."

"Is it Thanos? Do you still ail?"

"No, Thor, I am fine." He cringed, somehow desperate to get away from the overbearing care that, with the shadow of their history between them, he could no longer return.

Since returning from Asgard with his memories, Loki has been treated with respect from both Thor and the Avengers; fist-to-face notwithstanding. He knew that he wouldn't have been as gracious in their place, and it irked him that they could see something in him that he had not, perhaps, seen in himself.

He had given himself a way to escape, as an act of desperate cowardice in a hapless situation. Loki had not expected anything other than freedom and peace with his new, memory-less life. He had expected to lose himself, the self that he had begun to hate to deeply, but hadn't expected to gain so much.

He hadn't expected Kay and Jay.

Loki hadn't believed he could have a family. When he was young he had thought he was part of what a family must be, but as he had grown, become less naive, he had noticed how he couldn't fit in with the royal Asgardian unit.

After discovering his Jotunn heritage, it had seemed to Loki that perhaps there was something fundamentally wrong with him. The Frost Giants were known to be a violent and loveless race, and if he were a part of them then it made sense why he could not fit or be loved.

He knew that if he had no memories to haunt him, no childhood stories of blue monsters or one-sided war-stories, he could, perhaps, feel complete about who and what he was. There would be no personal attachment to any rejection or animosity, and he could learn to be comfortable with himself without the shadow of being 'the failed son' blocking out any hope.

However, his new life had shown him that there was nothing fundamentally wrong with what he was. Though he shuddered when he thought of how liberal he had been with his Jotunn form, one that he would always think of as repulsive, it'd had no bearing on how the two agents had treated him.

Nor had it hindered the acceptance Thor had shown during the blond's time as his guardian.

Which led Loki to conclude that being Jotunn hadn't caused his hatred and self loathing, that he didn't have to try to prove himself to be better than what Odin had divined for him.

Thor, who, for some inexplicable reason, was happily reading a house design magazine, would remain ignorant of the turmoil within Loki. He could never understand.

"This is Stark's building, is it not?" Loki asked, not wanting to dwell any longer and draw Thor's suspicion again.

"Indeed." Thor gestured around the living and bed areas, "These are the chambers he had built for my visits."

"They are elaborate for mere visiting quarters."

"Tony's father built a kingdom of technology, which have aided their warriors in victorious battle. Tony is the heir to his throne and protégé to his craft."

"So he's got a lot of money."

"Indeed."

"Well, you could have just said that."

"I found it lacking."

Loki frowned. "He was affected by my capture, was he not? Perhaps I should," he made a vague hand gesture, "help?"

"Excellent idea. I shall come with you."

"No." He said a little too quickly, raising his hands slightly to stop him, "There is no need, and you've done enough for me. _Really_, Thor, just stay here; I do not need a chaperone."

"Oh," Thor deflated slightly, lowering back into the chair from where he had started to rise, "If you are sure, brother."

Loki swallowed painfully at hearing the word, and wondered whether he would ever be okay hearing it again.

"Yes," he managed, "I'm sure."

* * *

Pepper had headphones in to try and block out the classic, and occasionally contemporary, rock that Tony adored listening to so much. She sat in a chair that felt new, despite having been in Tony's workshop for years, and waded through the digital paperwork that came with running a massive company.

It was Tony's baby; and she had promised to look after it with the utmost care until he was ready to step back into the CEO shoes.

He was sitting on the floor amongst bits and bobs. She had no idea what they were for, but he seemed... not happier but, in the very least, more _settled_ than he had been before.

There was a bottle of vodka by his side, but Tony hadn't opened it yet.

Improvement, Pepper hoped.

Tony wouldn't let her leave his side, hence why she was doing her office work in his normally private sanctuary.

It was a life-affirmation thing. Pepper knew he just needed her around to remind him that she was alive, and maybe that _he_ was alive too, so she was happy to accommodate while he healed, on the proviso that he did, in fact, heal.

Even without fully knowing what Tony had been going through, as he had been vague on the specifics, she knew that the inventor would bounce back. He had a unique gift for it, and he already seemed to be doing better now that he wasn't shutting himself off from anything untechnical.

Steve had said that Tony tried coping by removing himself from living things; some kind of weird disconnect. Pepper was glad that her presence helped, even though she still felt somewhat powerless watching him get lost in his devices.

She knew she could only do what he allowed her too. Pushing Tony before he was ready was never a good idea.

With her iPod, Pepper didn't hear the door chime. She did notice Tony pause and stiffen before he looked up, and she glanced immediately at the door while her boss took a moment to brace himself.

She startled when she saw Loki.

Although Pepper hadn't actually seen the god in person before, the footage had been all over the news and his sharp features were easily recognizable. He was dressed in a green tunic, which made him look a little like robin hood and a lot less like an evil egomaniacal god, but it was still unmistakably Loki.

His face didn't seem as tight, but his eyes were dark. She wondered what he had gone through during his kidnapping to make him look so haunted. Having seen Tony's reaction to what had happened during his own torture, she didn't particularly want to know what Loki had gone through.

Tony stared as the dark haired Asgardian for a moment, something strange sputtering through his eyes that Pepper couldn't quite read.

"J.A.R.V.I.S, let him in."

"Of course, sir."

The soundproofed doors slid open, and Loki stepped cautiously forward. His eyes drifted around the room and landed on a few gadgets with a look of honest interest greater than Pepper would have suspected.

"Mr Stark?" Loki started.

Pepper waited for Tony to correct the god. The billionaire heir didn't like too much association with his father, and usually stopped everyone he could from calling him Stark. It disturbed her when Tony gave a simple nod in response.

It was not like Tony to keep quiet, but he now seemed happy enough to let Loki lead the conversation.

"I wanted to ensure you would be okay." The god's voice echoed deep and loud in the too quiet room. Pepper hadn't realized that the music had been turned off, too caught up in his sudden appearance.

"I heard you experienced my death."

"Yeah, apparently the Chitauri lied to screw with my head."

"They did not lie, Mr Stark, I did die. What you felt was very real."

Tony straightened, keeping his eyes on Loki.

"Pep," He didn't turn his gaze, "could you step out for a moment."

She was taken back for a moment. "Excuse me?"

His eyes flickered to her, looking as apologetic as Tony Stark ever could, which was mildly humbled but not entirely contrite. "C'mon, Pepper. I just need to talk to Reindeer Games for a minute. _Please_, Pep. When have I ever asked you do anything for me?"

She raised an eyebrow, "I'd have to call accounting to calculate the numbers." She rose from where she'd been perched and cast a wary eye to the taller man. "I'll be waiting outside."

Giving Tony a slight peck on the cheek, she headed towards the sliding glass door, determined not to look back and let Tony see any disappointment on her face. She was supposed to be looking out for him, not causing him to worry more.

However, she was leaving him alone in the room with Loki, which definitely wasn't doing anything good for _her _concern levels.

From the other side of the soundproofed glass wall, Pepper could see the two rescued men. Tony was being oddly still while Loki, who was known to be very articulate and confident, was gesturing slightly and frowning as if he was trying to find correct words.

The business woman was skilled in many things, but lip reading was not one of them. They hadn't gone for each other's throat, but the fact that Loki was the one doing most of the talking meant that they may not need to come to blows for Tony to get hurt. She was tempted to ask J.A.R.V.I.S to record the conversation, but knew that Tony could easy override the instruction should be find out.

Something was lightening in Tony's stance, and he was talking now, perhaps not as animatedly as normal but he didn't seem overly defensive.

_It's going okay_, Pepper convince herself, and forced her eyes away from the silent scene to return to her tablet.

She had only managed to read through two thirds of an engineering budget report before the doors slid open and Loki glided past her. When she looked up, he gave her a respectful nod before ascending the stairs.

Tony had sunk back down to the floor as soon as Loki had turned his back to go, continuing to tinker with whatever he had been playing around with before the interruption.

"Tony?" She asked, hesitantly.

"Sorry, Pep." He didn't look up. "I just didn't know what was gonna happen, and I didn't want you to get caught up in it."

"That's fine." Pepper didn't sit back onto the beach, and instead stood over Tony's form. "What did say?"

"He died," he picked up a screwdriver, "and came back. He said he didn't know how, but he was lying."

"Tony, are you okay?"

He looked up, a small smile gracing his lips. "I'll be fine, Pep. _Really_, I'll be fine."


	21. Chapter 21

I struggled to think of something better to explain, but couldn't. I hope this isn't too much of a corny cop-out.

**Working Visa**

Loki loitered in the entrance hall of Stark Tower. He had been given back his MiB suit and green scarf from Kay, although, he supposed, it was a new suit since his own had been left on Jotunheim. The scarf was new too, and he was touched that Kay had made the effort to track one down in his preferred pure silk.

Although he preferred his suits tailored and much more expensive, like the one he had last worn in Germany, but this black material was designed to be as genetic as possible to blend into every alias a MiB agent may use. It was an odd sensation to have such an emotional attachment to an article of clothing, especially such a cheap one.

It held more sentiment for him than the green and gold royal robes he had been given when he'd turned of age.

It fit him almost as well as his tailored Italian, which was curious as he wasn't aware of any tailoring.

"Taking a break from the party?"

Jay was strolling in from the entrance, a suitcase in hand.

"It's hardly that."

"Should be," The young human came to a stop in front of Loki, his hands casually in his pockets and smile on his lips, "Stark's here and you're safe. We should have a celebration drink at least."

"It would be a relief, but Kay doesn't want me to stray far."

"You shouldn't listen to the old man; I don't. There's a place around the corner," He gestured to the suitcase, "we can talk business if it helps, but only if we do it the bar."

Loki breathed out heavily, "Stark's forbidden me from staying anywhere in his tower other than the foyer. This 'bar' doesn't sound preferable."

Jay frowned. "And you're cool with that?"

That was the difference between Jay and Thor, Loki decided. Thor would have assumed that it was an insult against Loki and gone to confront the Avenger, without taking into account that Loki was sitting complacently in the lobby. Jay didn't ask what had happened, he just assumed Loki would take care of it.

Jay was just like a brother, instead of an _older _brother.

It was, Loki was starting to realize, why he had never quite felt like Thor's equal. It was not solely about their father and the place on the Asgard throne; the blond had often treated him as inferior, without the strength or independence that Loki felt he deserved.

Thor cared, but in an overbearing way which served to aid Thor's peace of mind just as much as make Loki feel better.

Jay may have come with paperwork, and be slightly strongarming him into a tavern, but he seemed to be motivated by nothing more than wanting to celebrate Loki's safe return.

There was no guilt or disapproval in his eyes, like there had been in Thor's, and as much as Loki hadn't figured out whether he was ready to accept his adopted MiB family, he found himself wanting to spend the afternoon with Jay.

"I am indeed fine, and I shall join you in your drink."

He wondered about the paperwork. He had barely been back and there was already something for him to do. It spoke a lot about their confidence in him, although he should probably wait until He wonddhe saw what the work was before making that assumption, even though Loki hadn't yet decided whether he would continue to work with the MiB.

If anyone was going to find out his memory had returned it would be the agency.

They could also take it away again if he asked. Kay had done it before, and he suspected Jay would be more than happy to comply.

But if he wanted to keep his memories, and he hadn't quite made that decision yet, the agency might not want to keep him. Even the Avengers seemed to be respecting his decision to remain without memories.

The fact that Loki had gotten his memory erased willingly, that he had recognized what he was enough to want to be better, may be the reason why his amnesia was acceptable. That he was hiding his return, not admitting to his recovery or asking for a way back, told him that maybe he didn't deserve what they were offering him.

Loki was worried that the Men in Black agency wouldn't want to keep him as his former self. Even with the new view on life they had given him, it was possible that they had wanted nothing more than a mere shapeless drone or magical tool, and the return to his previous form could cause them to reject him.

However, he couldn't bring himself to be put in that position again. Even with these people around him, he did not want to leave himself so empty and defenceless again. Not unless he had to.

Loki planned to attempt to live his new life with the memories of his old; a second chance at being himself, within his second chance for a life.

He just needed to try and move past his hang-ups with Thor and Odin to accept Kay and Jay. Their acceptance of him was going to make it a lot easier than if he had to embrace his Asgardian family.

If he couldn't, then he had to trust himself enough to confess to Kay and ask for another go.

Jay had thankfully been quiet while they walked the few blocks to the bar, allowing Loki to think. When they arrived at the tavern it was not noisy or crowded, as it was early in the afternoon, but it was enough to distract him from thoughts of his new family turning on him.

He positioned himself on the stool next to his fellow agent, looking at the bottles behind the bar and wondering if he should order something when Midgard alcohol didn't seem to affected him. The only reason he would drink would be for the taste, and Jay had taught him that the best tasting drinks were only for women.

"A beer, and." Jay glanced questioningly over at Loki, who nodded his trust in the human's selection, "a Manhattan."

"Is that a local delicacy?" Loki asked, noting the name and current location.

"Nuh, man, I don't know why they call it that. We can order something else if you want."

"I'm sure it will be fine."

Jay nodded and brought the suitcase up as he asked whether Loki wanted to crack right into it. With the Asgardian's confirmation, he pulled out a stapled collection of papers, which was much thinner than Loki had been expecting.

"I'll give Fury credit; he doesn't try to bury his agents in bullshit paperwork. It shouldn't take you long to get through it."

The agent gave a nod to the barman as he handed the papers over to Loki and the drinks were placed in front of them. The god opened the document, quickly scanning the pages and taking note of the more important passages. It didn't take him long to get the gist of what they were detailing and, while he was glad that the Chitauri and Thanos were now the official jurisdiction of the Men in Black, there were a few issues he had to question.

"Should I not have been consulted before these decisions were made?"

"Yeah, but Fury wanted it sorted straight away." Jay took a mouthful of his drink, not looking at his partner, "You could always refuse to sign it."

It had detailed in the paperwork that he be a liaison between the MiB and Avengers. As Jay and Kay were already acting as contacts between S.H.I.E.L.D and the Men in Black, the higher ups had concluded that, as S.H.I.E.L.D had limited control over the Avengers, they needed a separate go-between between the hero-team and the MiB.

Loki, as they knew him, shouldn't have a problem working with the Avengers. Without the memories of his previous interactions with the avenging group, his exposure was limited enough that, really, only his chat with Stark should prevent him from wanting the responsibility.

He didn't think he could stand being around them, giving and receiving reports; especially, but not exclusively, Thor.

"I don't think Mr. Stark would be too pleased. We agreed to do our best to avoid each other."

Jay looked over, nodding at Loki's drink, which was so far untouched, to get him to take a sip. "I can get," the agent started, "why Stark wouldn't want to talk to you, but what's your problem with him?"

"It's just... odd. He felt my fear and my life. It's... violating." Loki picked up the cone-looking glass. "I don't need that reminder and neither does he."

"If you think the contract is a bad idea then you can tell Fury yourself, I've had enough of that guy."

"That's fair."

* * *

Loki hadn't known what, exactly, was happening to him when he had be lying in the cell at Jotunheim. He'd thought that he had passed out from the pain, and was floating somewhere in unconsciousness where Thanos couldn't reach him. Between the agony of his magic leaving and the droning voice of his annoying captor, he was glad for the reprieve.

It was quiet.

It was nice.

But there was something nagging at the back of Loki's mind; an image that he couldn't quite conjure up in his memory. He didn't know whether he should examine it or not, he didn't want to poke at anything he shouldn't be poking at

"It's nice here, isn't it?"

Loki startled and a tight emotion settled in his chest at the voice's sound. He couldn't tell if it was coming from him, or somewhere in his surroundings

"Thanos is trying to send you to me." The strange, light voice continued, "You will be here soon, but I will not accept his offering."

_Why not_?

"Your death is unacceptable."

The memory of rotting flesh and love.

_Hel._

"You remember."

* * *

Setting the empty glass back on the bar, Loki kept his eyes down on the paperwork to avoid looking at Jay. He wasn't sure whether he had actually met his daughter in Niflheim or if it was a product of his brain piecing his memories back together between rounds of blinding pain.

If not for Tony's insistence that Loki had died, the Asgardian would never have known. It seemed that the vision of his daughter had been real, and he had no doubt that it had somehow been her influence that had kept him alive.

Although he had little knowledge about her role in Niflheim, Loki suspected that despite the great power Hel wielded in the underworld realm, denying him entry due to personal preference would most likely have repercussions. He had not been aware that she had the ability to play with life and death; when he had researched her banishment he had read that once a being reaches her, it was already too long gone from the living world to return.

It was what had stopped him from trying to retrieve her, as it would have undoubtedly meant his death.

However, Thanos's voice rang in his head. His worshipping of death may have been Loki's saving grace, as the god had been intended as a sacrifice to Thanos's 'mistress' death, and that he had planned to deliver Loki straight to her arms.

He shuddered at the thought of Thanos as his son-in-law.

It was painful to remember his daughter. Although he was grateful for the opportunity to see her again, it was brief and he knew he would not reunite with her until many millennia passed.

Loki did not need Stark's pain as a reminder that she had protected her father as he had failed to protect her.

It was why he had accepted Stark's proposal to avoid contact.

The other Avengers, while they did not stir the same memories as Stark, still held many negative associations for him. The agent Barton, in particular, reminded him of what he had done in the past and how angry and lonely he had been while doing it.

But he had no reason to refuse.

Maybe it was better if he didn't. If he pretended to be okay with the assignment, like a memory-deprived agent he was supposed to be, then maybe he could start to relax in the presence of the Avengers.

It didn't get around the problem with Stark, but, as he understood the avenging team, the iron human tended to stand apart from the others and it was more likely that he would be working more closely with Rogers, Barton, Romanoff or perhaps Doctor Banner.

Loki hoped Thor would be called back to Asgard often. He could be civil in small doses, but if there was anyone who would be able to recognize his returned state, it would be Thor.

"I'll accept. Do you have a pen?"

Jay fished in his pocket for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Loki lied.


End file.
